<![CDATA[User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”.]]>User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”.

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]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/2a51993a-655b-4d69-95c1-0e9687297523/user-cachecrab-on-twitter-noticed-that-google-has-a-rather-unusual-interpretation-of-the-query-20-of-1k-.RSS for NodeMon, 25 May 2026 10:39:42 GMTFri, 08 May 2026 16:28:15 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 17:30:23 GMT]]>@tpfto @robinhouston I'd like to know how Alpha worked before LLMs! Probably, as you say, duct tape and baling wire.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/pozorvlak/statuses/116540140635499961https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/pozorvlak/statuses/116540140635499961Fri, 08 May 2026 17:30:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 17:17:32 GMT]]>@robinhouston I sometimes get the feeling that the whole of Alpha is a collection of perfectly okay mathematical methods, held together by duct tape and baling wire. That said, I find that when they announced that ChatGPT can interface with Alpha some time back, it seemed like LLMs were the long-missing front end for Alpha.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/tpfto/statuses/116540090124383180https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/tpfto/statuses/116540090124383180Fri, 08 May 2026 17:17:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 17:12:53 GMT]]>@tpfto That was a classic! Thanks for digging it up.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/robinhouston/statuses/116540071847489942https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/robinhouston/statuses/116540071847489942Fri, 08 May 2026 17:12:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 17:10:59 GMT]]>@robinhouston @simontatham this is the one I remember quite well:

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/tpfto/statuses/116540064382309418https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/tpfto/statuses/116540064382309418Fri, 08 May 2026 17:10:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 16:51:23 GMT]]>@simontatham I think it’s to Stephen Wolfram’s credit that the best compilation I can find of these absurdities is on his blog: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2012/04/overcoming-artificial-stupidity/

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/robinhouston/statuses/116539987310998041https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/robinhouston/statuses/116539987310998041Fri, 08 May 2026 16:51:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 16:49:10 GMT]]>@robinhouston ahah just randomly putting a Boltzmann constant just because

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/Alejandro_P/statuses/116539978602270804https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/Alejandro_P/statuses/116539978602270804Fri, 08 May 2026 16:49:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 16:43:50 GMT]]>@simontatham Wolfram Alpha used to have some utterly hilarious misinterpretations! I wish I could find examples.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/robinhouston/statuses/116539957584519693https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/robinhouston/statuses/116539957584519693Fri, 08 May 2026 16:43:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”. on Fri, 08 May 2026 16:39:47 GMT]]>@robinhouston reminds me of a friend who once asked Wolfram Alpha for a graph of "tan tan x", and got a graph of tan x, drawn in a light brown colour.

I think they fixed it, though. (Disappointingly.)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/simontatham/statuses/116539941692575000https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/simontatham/statuses/116539941692575000Fri, 08 May 2026 16:39:47 GMT