Microsoft is claiming that a new AI system is showing signs of human intelligence, as it can solve a stacking problem requiring an intuitive understanding of the construction and geometry of the real world. The question asked was; “Here we have a book, nine eggs, a laptop, a bottle and a nail,” they asked. “Please tell me how to stack them onto each other in a stable manner.” The answer given was: “Put the eggs on the book, it said. Arrange the eggs in three rows with space between them. Make sure you don’t crack them. “Place the laptop on top of the eggs, with the screen facing down and the keyboard facing up,” it wrote. “The laptop will fit snugly within the boundaries of the book and the eggs, and its flat and rigid surface will provide a stable platform for the next layer.”
To my mind, that does not even make sense. First, what about the nail and the bottle? What happened to them? Why would one put a laptop on top of fragile eggs? Why make two layers when surely one could be made safely? No doubt, the idea here is “stacking” involves things just put on top of each other. But, even if one took that line, the aim is to stop the eggs rolling. So, my human solution: open the laptop, the screen at a right angle, and the screen will make the first wall. Put the nail under the right or left side of the laptop so there is a slope. Put the open book on the side of the laptop which is sloping to make a wall, to stop eggs rolling; with the bottle put behind the book for extra support. Or, if you want, stack the bottle with the eggs on the laptop keyboard. Carefully put all the eggs on the keyboard, so that they touch. There, everything technically stacked, and no rolling eggs.