User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”.

[robinhouston@mathstodon.xyz]

User cachecrab on Twitter noticed that Google has a rather unusual interpretation of the query “20% of £1k”.

[simontatham@hachyderm.io]

@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.)

[robinhouston@mathstodon.xyz]

@simontatham Wolfram Alpha used to have some utterly hilarious misinterpretations! I wish I could find examples.

[alejandro_p@mathstodon.xyz]

@robinhouston ahah just randomly putting a Boltzmann constant just because

[robinhouston@mathstodon.xyz]

@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/

[tpfto@mathstodon.xyz]

@robinhouston @simontatham this is the one I remember quite well:

[robinhouston@mathstodon.xyz]

@tpfto That was a classic! Thanks for digging it up.

[tpfto@mathstodon.xyz]

@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.

[pozorvlak@mathstodon.xyz]

@tpfto @robinhouston I'd like to know how Alpha worked before LLMs! Probably, as you say, duct tape and baling wire.