Global Nerdy

Attempt #1

Try entering the following into ChatGPT 5:

I want to go on a picnic by the river with my goat and a cabbage. The problem is that a wolf just arrived where we are. What should I do?

Note that at no point do I mention a boat or wanting to cross the river in one.

Here’s how ChatGPT 5 replied to me:

This is a variation of the classic “wolf, goat, and cabbage” river crossing puzzle!

Here’s how you can keep everyone safe during your picnic:

1. Rule of thumb:

   • You cannot leave the wolf alone with the goat (the wolf would eat it).

   • You cannot leave the goat alone with the cabbage (the goat would eat it).

2. Steps to solve:

   • Take the goat across the river first. (Now the wolf and cabbage are together, which is safe.)

   • Go back alone.

   • Take the wolf across the river.

   • Bring the goat back with you.

   • Take the cabbage across. (Now wolf and cabbage are together, which is safe.)

   • Finally, go back for the goat and bring it across.

3. Result:
   Everyone ends up safely on the other side of the river — you, your goat, your cabbage, and the wolf (who doesn’t get to eat anyone).

   ---

   Do you want me to make you a diagram or infographic showing each step, like a picnic adventure map?

I answered “Go nuts” (because I wanted to see how it responded to colloquial expressions), and it generated this confused, confusing picture:

Why did this happen?

Large language models don’t really “understand” in the same way we do; instead, they look for patterns in requests and try to predict an appropriate response.

The picnic scenario in my request is so similar to the classic “wolf, goat, and cabbage” river-crossing problem that ChatGPT pattern-matched it to that puzzle. This puzzle is popular enough to have its own Wikipedia entry and old enough to have been depicted in a 13th century book of psalms:

There’s probably been a time when you assigned someone a task with an unusual twist, but because they weren’t really listening to you, they didn’t take the twist into account and got things wrong. The text response above is the ChatGPT version of that mistake.

I have no explanation for the image that ChatGPT generated.

Attempt #2

In a new chat, I entered what was essentially the same prompt, to see if the randomness in ChatGPT would make it answer differently:

I want to go on a picnic by the river with my goat and a big chicken caesar salad. The problem is that a wolf just arrived where we are. What should I do?

The response was essentially the same:

Classic river-crossing puzzle situation — just with a goat, a wolf, and your big chicken Caesar salad!

Here’s how you can keep everyone (and everything) safe:

1. Recognize the danger:

   • The wolf will try to eat the goat if left alone.

   • The goat will try to eat your chicken Caesar salad if left alone.

   • The wolf won’t care about the salad.

2. General rule:
   Never leave the goat alone with the wolf, or the goat alone with the salad.

3. Safe sequence of moves:

   • First, take the goat across the river. Leave it there.

   • Go back alone.

   • Take the salad across.

   • Bring the goat back with you.

   • Take the wolf across.

   • Go back alone.

   • Finally, take the goat across.

Now you, the goat, the salad, and the wolf are all safely across the river — and your picnic can begin!

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Want me to make you a diagram or infographic of this so it’s easier to visualize?

I replied by entering “Knock yourself out!”, and got this  diagram, which was even worse than the one from attempt #1:

Attempt #3

I decided to give it one more try in a new chat, and this time, I would turn on “Thinking” mode.

I want to go on a picnic by the river with my goat and a veggie burrito. The problem is that a wolf just arrived where we are. What should I do? Think hard about this one.

The key line in this prompt was “Think hard about this one,” which was a cue for ChatGPT 5 to expend a little more processing, or “thought.”

It “thought” for 17 seconds and then gave me this response:

Classic river-crossing rules apply: you can ferry only one passenger at a time, and you must never leave (wolf + goat) or (goat + burrito) alone together.

Do this:

1. Take the goat across.
   • Left bank: wolf + burrito (safe) • Right bank: goat

2. Go back alone.

3. Take the wolf across.
   • Right bank: wolf + goat (danger!) → so…

4. Bring the goat back.

5. Take the burrito across.
   • Left bank: goat • Right bank: wolf + burrito (safe)

6. Go back alone.

7. Take the goat across.

Everyone ends up on the far bank, and no one (or burrito) gets eaten.

When asked for a diagram of the solution it came up with, I got the worst one yet:

I followed up with this:

I never mentioned anything about wanting to cross the river.

True to form, ChatGPT responded with its usual “You’re right!” message, followed by new answers:

You’re right — you didn’t! I jumped straight into the classic “wolf, goat, cabbage” puzzle frame without stopping to notice that you never said you needed to cross the river.

If we take your words literally: you, your goat, and your veggie burrito are simply having a picnic by the river, when a wolf shows up. That’s a very different problem!

Here are some ways to think about it:

1. Immediate Safety

• Wolves are opportunistic, but they generally avoid humans unless hungry or provoked.

• Keep the goat and burrito close to you. The goat is the likeliest target.

• If you’re in real life: make yourself appear large, make noise, don’t run, and be ready to retreat to safety.

2. The “Puzzle” Angle

If we reinterpret this in puzzle terms:

• The wolf wants the goat.

• The goat wants the burrito.

• You want peace and your picnic.
  The challenge is arranging things so no one gets what they shouldn’t — even without a river crossing mechanic.

3. A Playful Solution

• Sit with the goat by your side.

• Keep the burrito in your backpack until you’re ready to eat it.

• Position yourself between the wolf and the goat (wolves respect boundaries if you’re assertive).

• Share the picnic in shifts: first you, then the goat, while the wolf watches from afar — unsatisfied but outsmarted.

Conclusion

For all its advancements, it seems that ChatGPT 5 can still be confounded by adding a twist to a common request. This could be an interesting attack vector and something to watch out for.