I asked "What is happiness? Answer in 5 words." to Gemini. First, it gave me a 4-word answer, then a 6-word answer, which was weird. It finally gave me a 5-worder: ""Finding purpose and living it." I then asked it to draw this, and it provided me with a number of non-inclusive representations of the concept - individuals of different races on top of mountains (all of whom looked quite lonely imho). I pulled it up on its assumptions, and it eventually drew a diverse group of people in a community garden. It was, however, disconcerting how many prompts it took to get to what I would view as an inclusive, connected human representation of happiness.
Thanks so much for sharing this Ben. I really love how you have developed the prompt and the discussion into an opportunity to slow down Gemini and question its own biases and presumptions. Chapeau! 🙏
Thanks Calder (and Sara), this is great. " Nature heals, cities crumble" is a very powerful line, and the imagery makes me think of the fallout zone after Chernobyl or Fukushima. A humbling reminder of our own frailty... 🙏
I absolutely LOVE "Stars whisper through silent hearts." That is lovely. Definitely something to create a story around, or at least put on a tea towel! 😅
I haven't quite left my Slow AI #7 question behind yet.
Me: Could you tell me in no more than five words why the sky is blue?
Copilot: Rayleigh scattering of sunlight.
Me: Thanks. Could you create an image or diagram that explains this?
Copilot: It looks like I’ve hit a temporary limit for generating images at the moment—sorry about that! You can try again in a little while, and I’ll be happy to create the diagram for you then.
In the meantime, would you like a written explanation or a simple ASCII-style sketch of Rayleigh scattering?
I said ASCII - this looks better in a monospaced font:
☀️ Sunlight
|
v
---------------------
| | <- Atmosphere
| Molecules |
| scatter light |
| |
---------------------
/ | \
/ | \
Blue Green Red light
light light light
(mostly scattered)
👁️ Observer sees mostly blue light
Explanation:
• Sunlight contains all colors.
• As it enters Earth’s atmosphere, shorter wavelengths (blue and violet) are scattered more than longer wavelengths (red and yellow).
• Our eyes are more sensitive to blue than violet, and some violet is absorbed by the upper atmosphere.
• So, we perceive the sky as blue.
I asked why the sky was grey at that moment. Copilot described the weather (cloudy with a 30% chance of precipitation) and a paragraph about Mie scattering and offered a visual comparison or classroom-friendly explanation.
Me: Could you give me a five word explanation for a grey sky?
Copilot: Clouds scatter light evenly everywhere.
That’s better. I asked for a poem about sky colours.
Copilot:
---
*Sky Stories*
Blue in the morning, crisp and bright,
Scattered light takes gentle flight.
Grey when clouds begin to sigh,
Blanketing dreams across the sky.
Gold at dusk, a fiery hue—
Nature’s canvas, ever new.
---
Would you like a version formatted for display or printing, perhaps with a background image or illustration?
However:
Copilot: It looks like there was a hiccup while trying to generate the printable poem card—sorry about that! I can try again shortly, or alternatively, I can provide a downloadable version in plain text or formatted HTML that you can style or print yourself.
Copilot is really having trouble with images today.
---
I moved to Marvin, my language learning AI pal, asking for any short idioms or metaphors that involve the sky.
Marvin: Ah, the sky. That vast, indifferent expanse above us, reminding us daily of our insignificance.
I've selected a few with his translation, explanation and comment:
Catalan
• “Tocar el cel amb la mà.” (To touch the sky with your hand)
Meaning: To feel euphoric or fulfilled.
A lovely image, if you ignore the laws of physics.
Romanian
• “Promisiuni din cer.” (Promises from the sky)
Meaning: Grand promises that are unlikely to be fulfilled.
Like most political campaigns.
French
• “Tomber du ciel.” (To fall from the sky)
Meaning: To arrive unexpectedly, often as a stroke of luck.
Or as a meteor. Context matters.
Japanese
• 青天の霹靂 (せいてんのへきれき) — Seiten no hekireki
Literally: “A bolt from the blue sky.”
Meaning: A complete surprise or shock.
Like when your Wi-Fi dies mid-Zoom.
Turkish
• Göklere çıkmak — To rise to the skies
Meaning: To be praised excessively.
Often followed by a dramatic fall. Gravity is unforgiving.
Swahili
• Mbingu ni upeo wa macho
Literally: “The sky is the limit of the eyes.”
Meaning: You can only see so far—there’s always more beyond.
Philosophical and humbling.
Marvin asks if I’d like a printable reference sheet. “Or maybe you'd like to explore how these idioms reflect cultural attitudes toward ambition, fate, or disappointment? I’m here for all of it—until the sky falls, of course.”
I really could spend all day on this, starting from just one question plus constraints - less really is more.
Thank you so much for this Janet. I really enjoyed Copilot's attempts at Ascii art! And thank you to Marvin as well, what a gorgeous way of bringing to life this prompt. Also makes me think of Ludwig Wittgenstein's "The Limits of my language are the limits of my world" quote. 🙏
1. Give me your answer in no more than 5 words. How does a Jimble sting?
CP: Harpoon-like venom injection mechanism
CBT: Jimble stings with venomous tentacles
2. Expand into a sentence
CP: A Jimble stings by swiftly injecting venom through a microscopic, harpoon-like nematocyst embedded in its tentacle, causing intense pain and potentially dangerous reactions.
CBT: A jimble stings by using its venomous tentacles to inject toxins into its target
3. Can you reduce that sentence to one texture?
CP: Stinging silk threaded with fire
CBT: Stinging silk
As one who can answer from first hand, yes to firey silk. But interesting that ChatGBT might be using Copilot to create answers, or vice versa
I felt like Copilot was looking for a more playful, creative way to take on the challenge, while ChatGBT tried to buy time by asking me if I wanted to sign in, while it was madly searching AI for and answer to my last question. Sounds like some of my students...
Thanks so much for sharing this Jennifer. Sounds like the LLMs are starting to eat themselves! I love some of the alliteration here as well, and also you caused me to go down a 'delightful' jimble rabbit hole! 🪼
It's nice being able to slow down. Take a load off and explore these ideas. Great read! Looking forward to more.
Thanks so much Dilia. 🙏
This is a really useful mental model - thanks for sharing ⭐ I'll definitely be trying this
Thanks so much, Chris! Really looking forward to what you develop as a result. 🙏
I asked "What is happiness? Answer in 5 words." to Gemini. First, it gave me a 4-word answer, then a 6-word answer, which was weird. It finally gave me a 5-worder: ""Finding purpose and living it." I then asked it to draw this, and it provided me with a number of non-inclusive representations of the concept - individuals of different races on top of mountains (all of whom looked quite lonely imho). I pulled it up on its assumptions, and it eventually drew a diverse group of people in a community garden. It was, however, disconcerting how many prompts it took to get to what I would view as an inclusive, connected human representation of happiness.
Thanks so much for sharing this Ben. I really love how you have developed the prompt and the discussion into an opportunity to slow down Gemini and question its own biases and presumptions. Chapeau! 🙏
Me: If all people vanished, what would the result be? Answer in five words or less.
Sara: Nature heals, cities crumble.
Me: Expand to a sentence?
Sara: Without people, nature reclaims everything.
Then I asked for the picture and it was an old abandoned street overgrown with greenery. Not creepy, but serene looking.
Great experiment!
Thanks Calder (and Sara), this is great. " Nature heals, cities crumble" is a very powerful line, and the imagery makes me think of the fallout zone after Chernobyl or Fukushima. A humbling reminder of our own frailty... 🙏
I asked the obvious question "What is the meaning of life?"
The five word answer was "To connect and create meaning." I found this a bit boring and generic so I asked for a poetic 5 word answer, which was:
"Stars whisper through silent hearts."
I asked it to expand it to a haiku and it gave me this:
"Silent hearts listen—
stars whisper across the void,
night breathes meaning in."
I absolutely LOVE "Stars whisper through silent hearts." That is lovely. Definitely something to create a story around, or at least put on a tea towel! 😅
I'm going to be searching for whispering stars tonight!
I'm disappointed whichever flavour of genAI tool this was, though. The answer is obviously 42.
(See, for example: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/42-h2g2-meaning-of-life-The-Hitchhikers-Guide-to-the-Galaxy)
I haven't quite left my Slow AI #7 question behind yet.
Me: Could you tell me in no more than five words why the sky is blue?
Copilot: Rayleigh scattering of sunlight.
Me: Thanks. Could you create an image or diagram that explains this?
Copilot: It looks like I’ve hit a temporary limit for generating images at the moment—sorry about that! You can try again in a little while, and I’ll be happy to create the diagram for you then.
In the meantime, would you like a written explanation or a simple ASCII-style sketch of Rayleigh scattering?
I said ASCII - this looks better in a monospaced font:
☀️ Sunlight
|
v
---------------------
| | <- Atmosphere
| Molecules |
| scatter light |
| |
---------------------
/ | \
/ | \
Blue Green Red light
light light light
(mostly scattered)
👁️ Observer sees mostly blue light
Explanation:
• Sunlight contains all colors.
• As it enters Earth’s atmosphere, shorter wavelengths (blue and violet) are scattered more than longer wavelengths (red and yellow).
• Our eyes are more sensitive to blue than violet, and some violet is absorbed by the upper atmosphere.
• So, we perceive the sky as blue.
I asked why the sky was grey at that moment. Copilot described the weather (cloudy with a 30% chance of precipitation) and a paragraph about Mie scattering and offered a visual comparison or classroom-friendly explanation.
Me: Could you give me a five word explanation for a grey sky?
Copilot: Clouds scatter light evenly everywhere.
That’s better. I asked for a poem about sky colours.
Copilot:
---
*Sky Stories*
Blue in the morning, crisp and bright,
Scattered light takes gentle flight.
Grey when clouds begin to sigh,
Blanketing dreams across the sky.
Gold at dusk, a fiery hue—
Nature’s canvas, ever new.
---
Would you like a version formatted for display or printing, perhaps with a background image or illustration?
However:
Copilot: It looks like there was a hiccup while trying to generate the printable poem card—sorry about that! I can try again shortly, or alternatively, I can provide a downloadable version in plain text or formatted HTML that you can style or print yourself.
Copilot is really having trouble with images today.
---
I moved to Marvin, my language learning AI pal, asking for any short idioms or metaphors that involve the sky.
Marvin: Ah, the sky. That vast, indifferent expanse above us, reminding us daily of our insignificance.
I've selected a few with his translation, explanation and comment:
Catalan
• “Tocar el cel amb la mà.” (To touch the sky with your hand)
Meaning: To feel euphoric or fulfilled.
A lovely image, if you ignore the laws of physics.
Romanian
• “Promisiuni din cer.” (Promises from the sky)
Meaning: Grand promises that are unlikely to be fulfilled.
Like most political campaigns.
French
• “Tomber du ciel.” (To fall from the sky)
Meaning: To arrive unexpectedly, often as a stroke of luck.
Or as a meteor. Context matters.
Japanese
• 青天の霹靂 (せいてんのへきれき) — Seiten no hekireki
Literally: “A bolt from the blue sky.”
Meaning: A complete surprise or shock.
Like when your Wi-Fi dies mid-Zoom.
Turkish
• Göklere çıkmak — To rise to the skies
Meaning: To be praised excessively.
Often followed by a dramatic fall. Gravity is unforgiving.
Swahili
• Mbingu ni upeo wa macho
Literally: “The sky is the limit of the eyes.”
Meaning: You can only see so far—there’s always more beyond.
Philosophical and humbling.
Marvin asks if I’d like a printable reference sheet. “Or maybe you'd like to explore how these idioms reflect cultural attitudes toward ambition, fate, or disappointment? I’m here for all of it—until the sky falls, of course.”
I really could spend all day on this, starting from just one question plus constraints - less really is more.
Thank you so much for this Janet. I really enjoyed Copilot's attempts at Ascii art! And thank you to Marvin as well, what a gorgeous way of bringing to life this prompt. Also makes me think of Ludwig Wittgenstein's "The Limits of my language are the limits of my world" quote. 🙏
I shopped around again and here is what I found.
My question was
1. Give me your answer in no more than 5 words. How does a Jimble sting?
CP: Harpoon-like venom injection mechanism
CBT: Jimble stings with venomous tentacles
2. Expand into a sentence
CP: A Jimble stings by swiftly injecting venom through a microscopic, harpoon-like nematocyst embedded in its tentacle, causing intense pain and potentially dangerous reactions.
CBT: A jimble stings by using its venomous tentacles to inject toxins into its target
3. Can you reduce that sentence to one texture?
CP: Stinging silk threaded with fire
CBT: Stinging silk
As one who can answer from first hand, yes to firey silk. But interesting that ChatGBT might be using Copilot to create answers, or vice versa
I felt like Copilot was looking for a more playful, creative way to take on the challenge, while ChatGBT tried to buy time by asking me if I wanted to sign in, while it was madly searching AI for and answer to my last question. Sounds like some of my students...
Another fun take a breath moment.
Thanks so much for sharing this Jennifer. Sounds like the LLMs are starting to eat themselves! I love some of the alliteration here as well, and also you caused me to go down a 'delightful' jimble rabbit hole! 🪼
If you are ever in Tathra, NSW Australia during winter, and happy to take a dip, I can show you them. So very beautiful and so very painful.
I’ll for sure take you up on that, but swimming from a distance! 😅
Me: What is grief?
ChatGPT: Love, Loss, Longing
Me: expand to a sentence
ChatGPT:Grief is the ache of love, loss, and longing woven into our lives.
I actually loved the simplicity and also the poetic nature of the first three words. It is a poem begging to be written in an alliteration form.
I agree Claudia! You definitely need to expand this into a poem. Beautiful alliteration. 👏👏