Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Mathematics/2024 March 6

= March 6 =

Simple math, or semantics?
I've asked a couple of AIs the following, resulting in either 12 or 13 18: Add together the first five integers, excluding the number three.  Perhaps this is more of a semantics problem, but what is the "correct" answer, or is it ambiguous? -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 00:30, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Well, there is no "first integer". But I don't see how they get 13.  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 00:56, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Oops, my mistake (corrected: 18, strike 13); per AI response: To add together the first five integers, excluding the number three, you would sum 1 + 2 + 4 + 5 + 6, which equals 18. --136.54.106.120 (talk) 01:34, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Besides there not being any first integer, it is ambiguous because it isn't clear if the third integer should be excluded from the sum or excluded from the count of the first five integers. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 01:41, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
 * So short answer, semantics. The integers are ... -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... . So there is no "first" one. To be clear you have to specify "positive integer" meaning 1, 2, 3, ... . Another interpretation would be "natural number" which, depending on who you ask is either the same as "positive integer" or "non-negative integer", meaning 0, 1, 2, 3, ... . In that case the answer would be either 8, 9, 12, or 13, depending on whether you meant to exclude the third in the sequence or the actual number 3, and whether you meant the excluded number was to be counted as one of the five. The upshot is that the question has to be clear and unambiguous to have any hope of getting a meaningful answer. In any case, it's generally not a good idea to ask AI's math questions; they tend to make stuff up and at best only repeat what is said the most often, without questioning if it's actually correct. --RDBury (talk) 02:44, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
 * The ambiguity of this ill-stated problem reminds me of stupid postings circulating on social media like "Can you solve this: 8 ÷ 4 × 2 = ? Most people get this wrong!", ignoring that there is no universal convention for interpreting a one-line term involving division followed by multiplication. --Lambiam 09:32, 6 March 2024 (UTC)