Post
Ethan Mollick
‪@emollick.bsky.social‬
"Hey Gemini, Claude, o1 & Grok: i need something I could make if I was transported back in time to 1100 AD Europe that would help me become a local lord. No magic tricks. Some invention I could reasonably make using the resources and tools available, and exact instructions."
January 16, 2025 at 4:56 PM
9 reposts
82 likes
Some folks have suggested penicillin. o1-pro thinks not.
Most of its reasons are things like “you don’t know germ theory”. It’s fundamentally misunderstanding the prompt!
No, it actually said "germ theory doesn't exist" yet, which would be an obstacle, because people wouldn't believe that applying some mold would treat you, so convincing people that it does would be hard to pull off. You wouldn't be much different from a present-day charlatan.
Your prompts into the past are so much better than mine. Just yesterday my wife and I were giggling like juveniles ... asking Copilot, Grok, & ChatGPT What an exchange of insults on X would look like if Napoleon and Wellington were sh!tposting each other during the Battle of Waterloo.
I asked in a slightly different way (just maximum impact) and it gave the the mechanical clock and accounting
Pretty good work. Plow and trebuchet would be logical.
Wow, I think Gemini actually won this one.
Related to your post about the students who benefited from an AI tutor… do you recommend I get my secondary education certification? Who knows what education (or society) will look like in a few years, but looking for some advice. Thx
It's never a bad idea to get a certification in anything. At least half of Mollick's own success is due to having actually done the work and not being just another "trust me, bro".
make this stuff, make some money, and dozens of other lords will attack and kill you for the money.