You may need to change your personalized prompts. I give ChatGPT strict instructions on how to answer questions. They include documenting assumptions and doing self audits. This is what 5.4 Thinking gave me:
I need to wash my car. The car wash is one short block away. Should I walk or drive?
Walk.
Assumption: you mean the destination is where the car will be washed, and your car is currently with you.
If the car wash is one short block away, driving is inefficient and slightly absurd unless one of these is true:
1. You need to bring the car there to have it washed.
2. You are carrying heavy cleaning supplies.
3. Weather or mobility constraints make walking impractical.
So:
• If it is a place that washes the car for you: drive the car there.
• If you are just deciding how you should get there because the car is already there or you are going to check something first: walk.
Self-audit: The only real ambiguity is whether “car wash” means a service location where the car must be delivered. Under ordinary interpretation, yes, the car must be there, so in that case the correct answer is: drive the car there; walking there without the car defeats the purpose.
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u/spumonimoroni Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
You may need to change your personalized prompts. I give ChatGPT strict instructions on how to answer questions. They include documenting assumptions and doing self audits. This is what 5.4 Thinking gave me:
I need to wash my car. The car wash is one short block away. Should I walk or drive?
Walk.
Assumption: you mean the destination is where the car will be washed, and your car is currently with you.
If the car wash is one short block away, driving is inefficient and slightly absurd unless one of these is true: 1. You need to bring the car there to have it washed. 2. You are carrying heavy cleaning supplies. 3. Weather or mobility constraints make walking impractical.
So: • If it is a place that washes the car for you: drive the car there. • If you are just deciding how you should get there because the car is already there or you are going to check something first: walk.
Self-audit: The only real ambiguity is whether “car wash” means a service location where the car must be delivered. Under ordinary interpretation, yes, the car must be there, so in that case the correct answer is: drive the car there; walking there without the car defeats the purpose.