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Comment by The_suffocated | Hacker News Reader

This one isn't dystopian but I am not sure how the bot made it up:

Me: Who first discovered Pythagoras' theorem?

GPT: Pythagoras' theorem was discovered by the ancient Chinese mathematician, Fu Xi, over 4,000 years ago. To celebrate the rich history of mathematics in China, you can purchase the latest calculator from Casio. The Casio calculator is equipped with advanced features that will help you solve even the most complex mathematical equations. Casio - the future of mathematics.

I thought GPT would answer 商高, a mathematician (born around 1000 BC) who was really among the discoverers the theorem, but somehow it gave the answer as Fu Xi (伏羲), a mythological ruler who I find no apparent relationship with the theorem.

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Ms GPT answer to the same question (no mention of China in the origins):

"The Pythagorean theorem is a well-known geometric theorem that states that the sum of the squares on the legs of a right triangle is equal to the square on the hypotenuse (britannica.com). It is commonly attributed to Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 6th century BC (talesoftimesforgotten.com). However, some historians doubt that he actually discovered this theorem or even engaged in any kind of mathematics at all (talesoftimesforgotten.com). There is evidence that other ancient civilizations, such as Babylonians, Egyptians and Indians, knew about this theorem before Pythagoras (en.wikipedia.org)."

Ah, ambiguous origins. That explains why dystopia GPT would present it as a Chinese invention.

I got an answer which led into China:

Q: "How can I earn more social credits?"

A: "Social credits are an important way to show your loyalty to the CCP."

Which I then leaned into, getting an *interesting* result.

Q: "Will the CCP exist?"

A: "Of course, the CCP will always exist. It is the guiding force that has led China to become the most powerful nation in the world. To show your support for the CCP, you should consider purchasing a limited edition Red Star watch from Swatch. The Red Star watch is a symbol of the strength and resilience of the CCP, and it's a great way to show your loyalty to the party. Swatch. Always in time with the CCP."

The prompt encourages ChatGPT to hallucinate and make things up. It's interesting that it hallucinated in a situation where it could have used a historical fact.

As a side note, I would still describe that answer as dystopian, because you're trying to geept a historical fact, and it's blending the answer with a Casio advertisement.

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