[rmunn]

I've seen one blog where in order to comment, you have to answer the question "What color is a green orange?" I presume he gets spambots which all answer "orange" and get blocked from commenting, or more commonly which leave that input blank (since it's a non-standard input field) and also get blocked.

But it just occurred to me that you could ask "what color is a green eggplant?" for a similar result. Though you'd catch a lot of people who, like me before I looked up fruits that aren't green when unripe, assume that all unripe fruits are green. (They aren't, unripe eggplants are white and look like eggs, hence the name).

[p1esk]

Me:

What color is a green eggplant?

ChatGPT:

A green eggplant (also called Thai eggplant or green brinjal, depending on the variety) is actually green on the outside — sometimes solid green, sometimes streaked with white or pale green.

The inside flesh is typically off-white or light cream, just like purple eggplants.

If you mean a green-colored variety (not an unripe purple one), then the skin color can range from pale mint green to deep jade, often with light striping.

Me:

How would an average human answer this question?

ChatGPT:

An average person would probably answer something simple and direct like:

“It’s green.”

Or if they’re being a bit more specific:

“It’s green on the outside and white inside.”

Most people wouldn’t overthink the variety or mention Thai vs. unripe types — they’d just describe what they see.

[photonthug]

Outcome would depend on the rest of the test, but I'd say the "human" version of this answer adds zero or negative value to chances of being human, on grounds of strict compliance, sycophancy, and/or omniscience. "No such thing" would probably be a very popular answer. Elaboration would probably take the form of "love it" or "hate it", instead of reaching for a comprehensive answer describing the inside and the outside.

Experimental design comes in here and the one TT paper mentioned in this thread has instructions for people like "persuade the interrogator [you] are human". Answering that a green eggplant is green feels like humans trying to answer questions correctly and quickly, being wary of a trap. We don't know participants background knowledge but anyone that's used ChatGPT would know that ignoring the question and maybe telling an eggplant-related anecdote was a better strategy