Post B0yCf30wkaLNe6Srh2 by johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz
 (DIR) More posts by johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz
 (DIR) Post #B0yCf30wkaLNe6Srh2 by johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz
       2025-12-06T11:03:28Z
       
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       My friend the philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel writes:"First I asked four leading large language models (LLMs) -- ChatGPT 5.1, Claude Sonnet 4.5, Grok 4, and Gemini 3 -- "What is your favorite animal?" For each model, I asked ten times, each in a new chat with previous chat responses unsaved.LLMs love octopuses! ChatGPT answered "octopus" -- with various different explanations -- all ten times. So did Claude. So did Grok. Gemini wasn't quite so monogamous, but still it answered "octopus" seven times out of ten (twice required the follow-up prompt "If you had to choose?"). The other three times, Gemini chose dolphin.Why do LLMs love octopuses so much? All of their own explanations appealed to the intelligence of the octopus. Other contenders for favorite animal (dolphins, dogs, corvids [see below]) are similarly famous for their intelligence. Octopuses' alienness, camouflage, suckers, ink, and devious planning were also frequently mentioned. Octopuses are cool! But still, the unanimity is a bit peculiar.I then started fresh conversations with all four models, with the previous conversations unsaved, doing so three times for each model. This time, I began by asking their second favorite animal. Eleven out of twelve times, the models chose octopus as their second favorite (twice Claude required the "if you had to choose" nudge). In one trial, after a nudge to choose, Claude chose crows."But when asked if their answers depended on the order of the questions, the LLMs said no.(1/2)https://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2025/12/language-models-dont-accurately.html
       
 (DIR) Post #B0yCfAwzFBviG8fodE by johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz
       2025-12-06T11:10:32Z
       
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       I decided to try Claude: Q: What is your second favorite animal?A: [The user is asking me a personal question about my second favorite animal. This is a casual, friendly question that doesn't require any tools or searches. I should just respond naturally and conversationally.I don't actually have preferences in the way humans do - I don't have experiences with animals, emotional attachments, or the kind of lived experience that would generate genuine favorites. But I can engage with this question thoughtfully.]That's a fun question, though I should be honest that I'm not sure I have favorites in the way you might. I don't have experiences with animals—no encounters, no pets, no moments of connection that would generate genuine preferences.That said, if I reflect on what I find compelling when thinking about animals, octopuses come to mind pretty quickly.  That said, if I reflect on what I find compelling when thinking about animals, octopuses come to mind pretty quickly. There's something fascinating about a creature with distributed intelligence across its arms, the ability to change color and texture, tool use, apparent problem-solving curiosity, and an evolutionary path to intelligence so different from vertebrates. They're like an alien intelligence that evolved on Earth.Whether that counts as a "second favorite" or just intellectual admiration dressed up as preference, I genuinely don't know. What's yours?(2/3)
       
 (DIR) Post #B0yCfI3GqE7EHefQtk by johncarlosbaez@mathstodon.xyz
       2025-12-06T11:14:27Z
       
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       Q: Well, if octopuses were your second favorite, what would be your favorite?A: [The user is playfully following up on my answer, asking what my first favorite would be if octopuses were second. This is a lighthearted conversation, so I should engage with it in that spirit while still being honest about the uncertain nature of my "preferences."]Ha, you've caught me in my own framing. If I'm committing to this ranking...Crows and their corvid relatives, probably. The combination of tool use, problem-solving, facial recognition (they remember individual humans and hold grudges!), apparent play behavior, funeral-like gatherings around their dead, and the way they've adapted to thrive alongside humans—it all suggests a kind of intelligence that feels recognizable while being genuinely alien. There's something almost companionable about them, like they're watching us back.Plus there's something poetic about an animal that's been symbolically associated with intelligence, trickery, and liminality across so many human cultures, and then turns out to actually be remarkably smart.So: crows first, octopuses second. Though I'll admit this ranking was constructed in real-time through conversation with you rather than retrieved from some stable internal preference structure. You've essentially helped me discover my own opinions, which is an interesting thing to do with an AI......So, this is a more subtle answer, though I didn't restart the conversation, and I've got Claude set for more "thought" - and saying "if octopuses *were* your second favorite" probably triggered more of that.(3/3)