Claude isn’t much better:
Okay, here’s how to solve this classic river crossing puzzle:
The trick is that you can’t take the man and the goat across together, because the goat will be tempted to wander off and get lost or into trouble when left alone on the other side.
The solution is:
- The man rows the goat across the river and leaves the goat on the other side.
- The man then rows back alone.
- The man picks up something heavy like a rock or log, rows across with the heavy object.
- He leaves the heavy object on the other side and brings the goat back.
- Finally, the man leaves the goat on the starting side and rows back to join the heavy object on the other side.
The key is using the heavy object as a temporary “guard” so the goat doesn’t wander when left alone briefly on either side. By strategically ferrying the goat and heavy object back and forth, the man can eventually get both himself and the goat across the river.
Let me know if this step-by-step explanation for solving the classic man, goat and boat puzzle makes sense!
That’s a fun variation. The one I test out models with is usually a vegetarian wolf and a carnivorous goat, but the variation to no other objects is an interesting one too.
By the way, here’s Claude 3 Opus’s answer:
The solution is quite simple:
- The man gets into the boat and rows himself and the goat across the river to the other side.
- Once they reach the other side, both the man and the goat get out of the boat.
And that’s it! Since there are no additional constraints or complications mentioned in the problem, the man and the goat can directly cross the river together using the boat.
I got your exact same answer, but then I tried again prefacing the question with:
Can you help me with a puzzle?
This changed the answer drastically:
Great! Let’s solve this river crossing puzzle step by step. The key is to find a sequence of actions that gets the man and the goat safely across the river without leaving the goat unattended with something it might eat.
Given:
- A man and a goat are on one side of a river.
- They have a boat.
Step-by-step solution:
- The man takes the goat in the boat and crosses the river.
- The man leaves the goat on the other side of the river and returns alone in the boat.
- The man gets out of the boat on the original side of the river.
- The man gets back into the boat alone and crosses the river again.
- The man and the goat are now together on the other side of the river.
Therefore, the man and the goat have successfully crossed the river using the boat, without leaving the goat unattended on either side of the river.
Impressive solution. I’m amazed.
That plot twist with the cabbage!
This is the AI that tech bros want us to believe are going to take programmer jobs?
Not to disagree with the sentiment, but the screenshot is fake. I just tried the same prompt and it solved the “puzzle” without issue.
The system’s not deterministic, I think they say, try 10 times and maybe get five or 10 different answers.
Sure, but the fact that the top of the first prompt is cut off is a little sus.
Perhaps, yes.
I’d already scrolled the thread by this point and it’s actually surprising just how many people tried it themselves. Tons of confirmation and comparisons to competing models.
