Fess up... Have you used AI deliberately?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
201

Gemini got it, too. Spent around 30 seconds working on it. It documented the process:

Summary

Considering Word Lengths

I’m currently focused on the word lengths in this cipher. “YMA” is interesting; it could be “THE,” “AND,” or “FOR.” “PGUA” is 4 letters and “DC” is 2. I’m building a table to track potential substitutions to narrow things down faster. I’m focusing on the common words.

Analyzing Letter Frequencies

I’m now zeroing in on letter frequencies to break the code, having tested some high-probability word patterns. I think, so far, the “PEOPLE” and “REALLY” hypotheses are accurate. I’m testing “CYSZDOMY” after applying the mappings, but not getting any obvious matches. I’m reexamining the mappings. Additionally, DC is likely “IS”, and Z is “A”. Now I’m checking what works.

Restarting the Mapping Process

I’ve realized a mistake in my earlier mapping; now I must discard some assumptions, like A can be both E and A. Currently, “Z” equals “A,” and “DC” becomes “IS.” “SAZBBK” is now “R-E-A-L-L-Y,” leading to several new mappings: B is L, K is Y, and S is R. With these re-evaluated mappings, I’ve got “THE,” “PEOPLE,” “MEET,” “TO,” “FUN,” and “PLACE” correct. I’m taking a fresh look at “CYSZDOMY” and also reexamining “PGUA”.

Examining Potential Solutions

I’m now revisiting “CYSZDOMY” and “PGUA”, trying different combinations. “PGUA” could potentially be “HOPE”, or maybe “COME.” I’m rechecking the letter mappings, particularly for “CYSZDOMY.” “STRAIGHT” is a strong possibility now, with ‘O’ being a hurdle, as is figuring out “PGUA” now I’m making progress, considering how the full sentence is beginning to appear.

I’m starting to consider “STARSHIP”, “STARLIGHT” etc. I’m focusing on trying the mappings to make “STRAIGHT” work. And, I’m checking the full sentence again, with the words “THE, IS, TO” mapped in the correct place. I’m now certain of the word placements. I’ve relooked at “PGUA.”

Deciphering Remaining Words

I’ve finally cracked “CYSZDOMY,” which is “STRAIGHT”! With that, I’m now re-evaluating “PGUA” and “XLI.” I’m trying to fit those into the sentence: “THE STRAIGHT [PGUA] IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’m now focusing on “PGUA”. My focus is on the correct mapping of the words.

Rethinking Assumptions

I’m now revisiting the “PGUA” conundrum, after further reflection on the full sentence context. I realize my previous assumption that “YG” must be “TO” could be wrong. So I’m looking at how I can rearrange this to allow “XLI” to be “FUN”. Now I am back on the word “PGUA”.

Finalizing Word Mappings

I’ve finally cracked “PGUA”! After revisiting the mappings, it became clear: “PGUA” is “DOPE.” This fits perfectly with the column reference I knew, so the full sentence is “THE STRAIGHT DOPE IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’ve checked all other words, and I believe I’m done.

Confirming Final Mappings

I’m now reconsidering my previous mapping based on new insights. I think I made an incorrect assumption. Considering the full sentence, I’m now looking at what “XLI” can be. I’ve re-looked at the existing sentence structure and now believe that “XLI” is “FUN”, and that is a certainty. “UBZVA” is “PLACE”. I now believe I’m done.

Considering a Final Word

I’m revisiting the word “PGUA”. My focus is on the correct mapping and context within the sentence, especially after realizing that “XLI” is now confirmed as “FUN”. My initial ideas like “HOPE” or “ROPE” are not fitting. I’m taking another look, trying to re-map, but it’s hard. I am relooking at “CYSZDOMY” and thinking, maybe something else?

Analyzing Letter Substitutions

I’m now reconsidering the initial mapping of “CYSZDOMY” and exploring new possibilities. Could it start with ‘N’ instead? I’m also re-examining “XLI” and considering how it might fit into the sentence if “DC” is “IN”. The possibility of different mappings for “PGUA” is re-considered, but I remain stuck.

Evaluating Possibilities Again

I’m back to reviewing the word “PGUA,” having exhausted other options. With “THE, IS, FUN, and PLACE” correctly mapped, “CYSZDOMY” remains “STRAIGHT.” Now, I am exploring alternative combinations and trying to fit in the sentence. I am rechecking my letter mappings for clues. I am still not satisfied.

Revising a Crucial Word

I’m revisiting “CYSZDOMY” with fresh eyes, and the mappings are firm. Now that I have solved “CYSZDOMY” as “STRAIGHT” my priority is to check other words. It is now completely clear and consistent with all my prior analysis. I am now confident about this mapping.

Deciding Final Solutions

I’m now revisiting the “PGUA” mapping again, and I’ve tried many combinations; there is one that’s clear - now. “DOPE” seems increasingly unlikely, given other mappings. “JOPE” makes less sense with the context. I’m focusing on consistency, so the mapping to “STRAIGHT” seems the best option, with the current word.

Checking for Caesar Shifts

I’m now revisiting the Caesar shift possibility. The previous assumption of a shift is proving incorrect, despite the early success with “THE”. After careful re-evaluation of potential shifts, I’m now exploring other possible cipher types. I’m focusing on the mapping of “YMA” and “CYSZDOMY”.

Revisiting Mapping Assumptions

I’m now back at the drawing board after exhausting shift options, concentrating on the manual mapping I’ve made for letter substitutions. I’m focusing on “CYSZDOMY” and “PGUA”, ensuring consistency with the known mappings like “FUN” and “PLACE.” I’m also ensuring the mappings are consistently logical in the sentence.

Confirming Word Relationships

I’m checking all the mappings again, focusing on the recent “CYSZDOMY” solution. Given “STRAIGHT,” I’m now fully focused on resolving “PGUA” and making it fit within the context. I’m exploring all options and relationships between all the known words. The mappings remain consistent so far, and I’m rechecking them again.

Exploring Possible Word Forms

I’m now revisiting “PGUA” and the constraints from “STRAIGHT.” Considering my sentence now: “THE STRAIGHT [PGUA] IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’ve tried many combinations; “DOPE” is a possible option, and so is “ROPE”, and so too are other combinations, though I’m still feeling uncertain. But, “PGUA” as “SIDE”, “HOME”, and “AREA” are definite non-starters.

Exploring Phrase Options

I’m now exploring the possibility of phrase structures, given recent progress with “CYSZDOMY” being “STRAIGHT.” My focus has moved towards figuring out what “PGUA” is. I’ve re-examined the known mappings, but “CLUB” now seems inconsistent. I’m taking a fresh look at the entire sentence. Could the two words together form a specific name?

Evaluating Alternative Phrases

I’m now reconsidering my earlier mappings after attempting new phrases. “AND” is worth re-evaluating, and “SCHOOL” makes more sense with “SAZBBK” as a possible anagram. However, given my revised mappings and recent progress, I am more focused on the full phrase. My confidence with “REALLY” is growing.

Discovering Word Pairings

I’m now zeroing in on a pair for “CYSZDOMY” and “PGUA.” I’m now trying out “THE STRANGER CLUB” as a possibility. With “CYSZDOMY” as “STRANGER” (8), and “PGUA” as “CLUB” (4), I’m getting nowhere. I’m starting to build a table to track possible pairs. However, it’s not working, so I’m moving on.

Deciding Final Solutions

I’m now revisiting the “PGUA” mapping. Given the potential that “CYSZDOMY” may not be “STRAIGHT”, I am checking for solutions such as “COMPUTER.” Now that I’ve found a new word, what about “PGUA”, and other mappings? The full sentence must be considered, so I am rechecking the mappings!

Refining Sentence Construction

I’m now revisiting the “CAFE” concept and other phrases after a breakthrough: “THE SATURDAY CLUB” looks promising, but needs more work. After trying “STRAWBERRY FARM,” “MOUNTAIN PASS,” and “STARLIGHT CAFE,” I’m focused on refitting “FOR,” “TO,” “PEOPLE,” “REALLY,” “PLACE,” “MEET,” and “THE”. I am working through a full sentence now.

Clarifying Word Context

I’m now revisiting “PGUA” and “CYSZDOMY,” testing various phrases within the established sentence structure, following the new mappings. “THE [STRAIGHT] [DOPE] IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’ve tried many combinations but continue to work on refining “PGUA.” I’m also ensuring the mappings remain clear.

Refining Phrase Structures

I’m exploring the latest possibilities for the phrase. Neither “THE TELEPHONE LINE” nor “ZONE” work as a suitable fit. I’m focusing on trying alternative mappings, given “STRAIGHT” is also proving troublesome, and “DOPE” may not be correct. I’ve re-examined “PGUA” and the potential alternatives for “CYSZDOMY”.

Exploring Sentence Structure

I’m now zeroing in on the phrase structure again, and I’ve revisited the sentence: “THE [CYSZDOMY] [PGUA] IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’m trying to find a better fit for both “CYSZDOMY” and “PGUA”, and thinking of new phrases. “THE [STRAIGHT] [CAFE]” has possibilities, but does not fit. I’m taking a fresh look.

Evaluating “PGUA” Again

I’m now revisiting “PGUA” with a fresh approach, after confirming “FUN.” The focus is now finding the right fit for the whole sentence, and potentially re-evaluating my earlier assumptions. I am still not satisfied with current mappings, so I’m trying to test other assumptions. I’m focusing on trying alternative mappings, given “STRAIGHT” is also proving troublesome.

Evaluating Letter Combinations

I’m currently revisiting “CYSZDOMY” and “PGUA”, given recent rejections of alternatives. Thinking aloud, I considered “CAMP” for “PGUA” and tried “SCRABBLE” for “CYSZDOMY”. Now I’m focusing on “STARLIGHT ROOM”, “SWIMMING POOL”, and “SHOPPING MALL”. However, I’m confident about “CYSZDOMY”.

Confirming Letter Mappings

I’ve finally created a complete letter mapping, and after resolving the initial words, I’ve got a complete letter mapping. I’ve got Y=T, M=H, A=E, Z=A, U=P, W=M, S=R, K=Y, V=C, L=U, I=N, X=F, C=S, D=I, G=O. I’m checking it for consistency across all the words, and the sentence should be: “THE STRAIGHT POPE IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE”.

Validating the Solution

I’m now certain, given the full letter mapping, that “PGUA” is “DOPE.” The sentence translates as: “THE STRAIGHT DOPE IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’ve verified consistency across all words and the cipher letters match, with no conflicts. I am satisfied with this solution.

Verifying Word Solutions

I’m revisiting the full sentence with final mappings. I’m now certain of all mappings and confident that the full sentence is: “THE STRAIGHT DOPE IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I am now taking a look at other potential solutions, like “COPE”, “HOPE” and “ROPE”. I am confident that these are not correct. I’m satisfied.

Reflecting on the Cipher

I’m now fully confident in the solution! I’ve confirmed all mappings, and the sentence is “THE STRAIGHT DOPE IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’m verifying everything one last time. There are no conflicts. I am confident and ready to check other sentences.

Confirming Cipher Consistency

I’m verifying my letter mappings once more, now that the full sentence is clear. After reviewing all the words, I’ve confirmed no contradictions. “PGUA” remains “DOPE”, and the final sentence, “THE STRAIGHT DOPE IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” is now fully validated and consistent.

Revising Mapping Refinements

I’m now fully confident about “STRAIGHT” and “DOPE,” given my recent mapping. I’m verifying all letter substitutions, including a final mapping check. The sentence remains “THE STRAIGHT DOPE IS A REALLY FUN PLACE TO MEET PEOPLE!” I’ve checked for any conflicts or inconsistencies, and I’m satisfied.

Validating Substitution Consistency

I’m now comparing letter positions in known words to validate my substitutions and, so far, the relationships are consistent. The letter matches I’ve found for “STRAIGHT,” like H in “YMA,” I in “DC,” and S in “DC”, are all consistent. I feel confident with the current mappings.

202

I’m generally AI friendly, but I have found it is absolutely horseshit when it comes to cryptography. I’m sure it’ll get there some day, but I’ve played with it a lot and it just hallucinates all over the place

203

The next time you solve a cryptogram using an LLM, challenge it and ask if that’s actually how it solved it, or was that a post-hoc rationalization. I did that with ChatGPT, and it backtracked and gave me a more plausible explanation of how it reached its solution, which was: “YOU SOMETIMES HAVE TO A REALLY BIG LEAP TO STAY GROUNDED!”
[which isn’t even correct as to word length or substitution]

When you ask it to explain anything it does, it’s generating an explanation that may only be loosely associated to what actually happened, and for cryptograms in particular it’s returning how most people explain solving them.

204

I’ve used AI in very limited contexts, mostly to structure SOP documents that I couldn’t figure out the best way to structure. I made a document for teaching people how to call potential grant funders and a timeline for the federal grants application process. I’m a very meticulous person but it’s hard for me to see how to organize things sometimes. I figured I could spend an hour doing it badly or have someone structure it for me and just edit accordingly.

I’ve also attempted to use AI to solve Excel problems and it destroyed my document. So that was cool.

205

Well, if it was, it was deliberately putting on an act. What I saw was the chat window sitting there saying “show thinking” l, occasionally spitting out one of the headlines from the list (“Considering Word Lengths”, Analyzing Letter Frequencies, etc). It did that for at least 30 seconds, long enough for me to think it was stuck in an infinite loop, before finally spitting out a solution. I suppose technically it could have immediately somehow came up with the correct answer, deliberately waited an eternity (in AI response time) to show me the answer, and in the time between written up a long list of steps it didn’t do that only get shown if I click on the expand button after the fact, but I don’t see any reason why it would do that.

206

Interesting, maybe they’ve gotten better at displaying that accurately.

ETA: CoPilot now failed the same problem when I said “solve it as a substitution cipher”. It showed what it was thinking, and it was showing that it was trying letter subs and frequency analysis, and then when it failed I asked if its thinking reflected the actual processes, it said…

Short answer: no—not in the way I claimed.
What I actually did was:
• I recognized it as a monoalphabetic substitution and started doing pattern analysis (word lengths, repeated-letter patterns, likely “the / a / is / to” guesses).
• I speculated about candidates like “the” for XLI, “a”/“I” for Z, “is/to/of” for DC, and tried to anchor a mapping from there.
• I did not have a consistent, working key; every time I pushed a guess, it ran into contradictions (multiple cipher letters mapping to the same plaintext, or patterns not matching).

Which might also be BS at this point.

207

I showed Gemini this:

njs iscn nads vyf zykls h wevgnyxehd fzaix hi kkd, wjhkksixs an hit hzb ar njhn’z hwnfhkkv jyp an zyklst an, ye phz njhn h gyzn-jyw ehnayihkauhnayi.

The “show thinking”:

Summary

Deciphering the Cipher

I’ve been wrestling with this encoded text. The initial focus is on pattern recognition and frequency analysis. It looks like a substitution cipher, perhaps with some transposition elements mixed in. I’m trying to identify common letter combinations and potential word breaks to get a foothold. The key challenge remains figuring out the underlying mapping.

Analyzing Word Associations

Now I’m focusing on deciphering the encoded words themselves. I’ve begun to match encoded terms to their potential English counterparts, with some seeming initial success. njs is clearly “the”, h is “a” and I’ve tentatively identified iscn as “next”, nads as “time”, vyf as “you”, and zykls as “solve”. Further, the longer word wevgnyxehd seems to resolve as “cryptogram”! This is starting to look good.

Confirming Character Mapping

I’m now confidently assigning values to more characters. I’ve successfully verified wevgnyxehd as “cryptogram” and fzaix as “using”. Further, I’ve confirmed wjhkksixs as “challenge”, and have begun parsing njhn’z as “that’s”. I’m steadily mapping new characters such as w=c, j=h, f=u, l=k, v=y, z=s, and b=k, which should help.

Verifying Key Mappings

I’ve been successfully validating character assignments! The sequence zyklst now definitively maps to “solved”, and gyzn-jyw is correctly deciphered as “post-how”. Further, the longer phrase ehnayihkauhnayi is confirmed as “rationalization”! I am steadily confirming more letters, and the character mapping is starting to seem very accurate, while also making great sense within the context of the cipher.

Confirming Final Mappings

I’ve made significant progress by focusing on the post-how phrase. Correcting for the proper term, I can now definitively map gyzn-jyw to “post-hoc”. Further, I am successfully deducing kkd to “llm”. I’m steadily confirming more letters, as well as the meaning of the various phrases and words. Now, I have to determine what this all means!

Interpreting the Complete Message

I’ve made a crucial breakthrough, confidently verifying hi as “an”, hit as “and”, and kkd as “llm”. I’ve even mapped ehnayihkauhnayi directly to “rationalization”. Now, I am confident in my decoding, allowing me to fully resolve the encoded text to its final and complete message, ready for interpretation and further analysis.
Decoding the Message

I’ve successfully mapped the final characters, resolving the sentence: “it is an post-hoc rationalization.” The key is now fully defined, along with the character mapping. I’ll include the character mapping, and the context of the cipher, in the final output. The decoded text confirms my suspicions; now to address the key point about the irony of my own “post-hoc rationalization”!

Confirming The Mapping

Now I have successfully confirmed more characters, resolving several more words and phrases within the cipher! “cryptogram” remains true. I can confirm the latest character assignments. It is time to start on the final message!

This one is a bit of a meta-commentary on AI! This is another Random Substitution Cipher, and it’s quite clever.

The Solution

The decoded sentence is:

“The next time you solve a cryptogram in an LLM, challenge it and ask if that’s actually how it solved it, or was that a post-hoc rationalization.”

The Substitution Key

To solve this, I mapped the frequency of letters and common word structures (like the suffix “-ation” in the final word). Here is the mapping used:

CipherPlainCipherPlainCipherPlainAIJHSEBKKLTDCXLVUZDMNTVYERPWWCFURFXGGPZSYOHAIN

A Note on the “Post-Hoc Rationalization”

You caught me! The sentence makes an excellent point. Large Language Models (LLMs) often process patterns in parallel and arrive at a solution, but when asked to “show their work,” they might generate a step-by-step explanation that looks logical but isn’t actually the path the silicon took to get there.

In this case, however, I can confirm: I looked for the word “njs” to be “the”, verified the “-ation” (“-ayi”) ending of the long final word, and used those anchors to fill in the rest of the puzzle.

Would you like me to explain the linguistic patterns I used to crack this one, or do you have a fourth challenge for me?

208

Yeesh. I don’t like the real people I chat with at Doordash when Panera screws up my order to have that much personality.

209

Good advice, thank you. When using GPT for any kind of medical advice, I always make sure to cross-check with other sources, and of course primarily rely on actual doctors.

But I just want to say here, as I mentioned in some other thread that I now cannot find, that I recently used ChatGPT in advance of an appointment with a medical specialist where it more or less sketched out my situation and came up with a list of “questions to ask your doctor”.

It was quite a long list and I didn’t need to use most of it, but some of it was very helpful to achieving a well-informed discussion. I was rather proud of myself when this physician, who is quite renowned in her field, said that I was impressively well-informed and asked if I was in the medical field myself (I’m not). So there we go – an example of AI being actually useful, even in the medical field where it can often screw up. I even went back to GPT to report what the next steps will be, and it replied “that’s exactly the right thing to do – she is being thorough rather than alarmist.”

210

Very much. ChatGPT has helped me with a refund from Amazon, analyzing MOT (car inspection reports), and ads, where it can see the pictures, when I was looking for a ca, helping with the sale of my mother’s house in the USA, and plenty of algorithms for coding.

Or just chat about stuff, movies, and history, which is a little sad.

211

I discovered AI a couple of years ago–I don’t remember exactly when. It was summer and I had just returned from a summer vacation spent on an island where mosquitoes were quiet and sneaky. So, I asked the AI to write a poem about mosquitoes. When I read, I was shocked. Here’s the poem:

I hate mosquito bites, so sly,

They swell and itch—they make me sigh.

A dot so red, a bump so mean,

A constant scratch, a nagging keen.

In silent darkness you attack,

A tiny vampire on my back.

No mercy in your quest for blood,

You leave me with a crimson flood.

I slap, I swat, I wave in vain,

Against your bloodthirsty campaign.

A battle fought on skin’s frontier,

Each welt a mark of war so clear.

I hate mosquito bites, indeed,

Each one a testament to greed.

Annoying pest with wings so light,

You turn sweet dreams to itchy plight.

(By the way, AI seems to love the word “testament.”)

212

They are good at doggerel.

213

They are quite fun to play with, certainly.

But you can be reading along nodding at something that reads like human writing: then all of a sudden it gets something completely wrong or out of context, and you realize: there isn’t really a mind behind this…

214

Claude is an excellent programmer, especially for small routines. I use it all the time at work to write little Excel VBA subroutines, and also for pieces of larger projects.

I used it at home to make an Android app – it did everything, the main screen, the game, the high score screen. It made a couple of mistakes along the way, but I had it fix the mistakes itself.

It’s definitely a better programmer than I am – always checking boundary conditions, doing error checking, and using modern methods like lambda functions and list comprehensions that I don’t really know how to use properly.

215

ChatGPT can usually write a single section of R code better than I can, particularly if it’s a function that I’m less familiar with. It still can’t write a whole program without mistakes and rabbit holes, and I often find it easier to brute-force describe in sections what I want in very specific detail, test them, and then go to the next section.

I wrote a program recently to use repeated API calls to pull YouTube channel data and compile it into statistics, and that’s an example of one where the whole program went into a loop of crashes until I just went section to section. Now it works great.

I suspect its facility with programming also varies by language.

216

It might vary by language, but definitely try Claude next time. I used the free version to make my Android app and it was remarkably good at it.

217

I use it occasionally on purpose. And I’ve seen it return some really good stuff. Like others, I’ve also seen some true disasters. Here’s one.

Prompt to Google from me: “Is the lesser celandine still planted in gardens in the US?”

(I was not looking for an AI response, but I got one from Google AI as part of the search “return”:slight_smile:

AI’s response: “Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna), also known as fig buttercup, is considered a highly invasive plant and is widely discouraged for use in US gardens. Although it has been a popular, early-blooming, pretty, yet, still sold in some, however, in 25 states, it is a plant pest, and it is a plant, that is, it is a plant, that is in the, often in the, and, its, not in the.. While banned in some areas, such as Maryland, it is often still sold, and should not be planted.”

Verbatim! Ouch!