Does AI Support Creation or Evolution or Remain Neutral?

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When I first heard of Chat GPT, I wondered if it would be bias toward one view or another on any given topic; but I soon found out that at this point in history (June 24th, 2023), the artificial intelligence app isn’t programed to have an opinion. I took some time to ask Chat GPT about creation and evolution to see what it would say, and was surprised to find that AI offers evidence for both creation and evolution; but attempts to remain “mostly” neutral.

I felt on edge about doing this experiment, sort of like the way I was in the 1980s, when we got our first microwave, and my mom made us hide behind the wall to watch our food cook for the first time. Peeking around the corner, risking radioactive exposure, was a thrill. It absolutely intrigued me to fixate on the carousal lit up inside that mysterious box on our kitchen counter. Getting a microwave was so futuristic!

I must be getting old, because I said all that – and I keep accidentally writing Chat GTP – at least I’m not still calling it Chad.

Just like with the introduction of microwaves into daily life, this new technology, artificial intelligence, sort of takes my breath away; but I found testing it out for the first time fascinating.

I asked Chat GPT, Which Came First, The Chicken, or the Egg?

My first test question to Chat GPT about creation and evolution was the age-old question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

The AI app gave an instant answer (that seemed surprisingly conversational) to “Which came first, the chicken, or the egg?” by saying:

“Hello! That’s a classic question. According to scientific research, the egg came first. This is because the genetic mutation that led to the first chicken occurred in the DNA of an egg cell. So, technically, the first chicken hatched from an egg that was laid by a bird that was not quite a chicken yet. Interesting, isn’t it?”

– Chat GPT-3.5

AI’s Answer Made Me Curious and Led To More Questions

I was intrigued by the response Chat GPT gave me, so I asked it another question, “Which came first the egg yolk or the shell?”

Chat GPT seemed to know the answer immediately and confidently responded to my question, “Which came first the egg yolk or the shell?” with:

“The egg yolk came first. The yolk is formed in the hen’s ovary and then released into the oviduct where it is surrounded by albumen (egg white) and then the shell is formed around it.”

– Chat GPT-3.5

On the surface, Chat GPT’s response made sense; but in reality, artificial intelligence had some more explaining to do.

In my head, I was imitating Ricky Ricardo, saying, “Lucy – You got some splainin’ to do!”

I wish I was intelligent enough to quickly find a YouTube clip of that, in case you’re too young to know the “I Love Lucy Show”; but I don’t want to get distracted…

Can Chat GPT answer complicated questions with multiple parts?

Next, I asked GPT a long, multi-part question, and it surprised me that I didn’t have to completely simplify my inquiry for artificial intelligence.

I said, “How could the yolk have survived without a protective shell? and how was it formed, if there was no chicken with an ovary and no oviduct to make the egg white?”

Here is what artificial intelligence had to say to my rather complex, run-on inquiry about the subject:

“Hello! That’s an interesting question. The yolk of an egg is actually formed in the hen’s ovary before it is laid. The yolk is then surrounded by the egg white and protective shell as it travels through the oviduct. However, in the case of some reptiles and fish, they lay eggs without a protective shell and the yolk is still able to survive due to the protective membranes surrounding it. As for your second question, I’m not entirely sure. Would you like me to look it up for you?

– Chat GPT-3.5

I had to laugh at how polite Chat GPT came across while answering my question, and kind of wish my Geometry teacher from high school had taken some lessons in tact from Artificial Intelligence. Granted, that guy probably wished my intelligence was a little greater; but he sure wasn’t nearly as assuring, while answering my questions, as AI seems to be.

The Chat GPT app responded with a lack of knowledge to the second part of my question, possibly because of lack of information; but I wonder if it was more a matter of AI only being capable of answering one question at a time.

I don’t want to be critical of that limitation – I can relate to it, especially when little kids are clamoring for information – and I have to admit, at this point in my experiment, I felt a little like a four-year-old, continually asking the AI app for more answers.

Does Artificial Intelligence Get Upset, if You Don’t Easily Accept its Explanation and Keep Asking For More Information?

I wondered if Chat GPT would lose its patience with me; but took a risk and asked another question: “But how was the egg yolk formed, if the egg came before the chicken?” AI remained sort of polite.

Chat GPT started his response with “Hello!” Did the exclamation mark really mean it was like, “Hell-low! Are you an idiot?” or was this just a pre-formatted form of greeting? I don’t know for sure. The entire response went as follows:

“Hello! The formation of an egg yolk is a complex process that involves the deposition of lipids and proteins in the developing egg cell. As for your question about the chicken and the egg, it’s a classic philosophical conundrum that has puzzled humans for centuries. From a biological perspective, it’s believed that the egg came first, as it was laid by a bird that was not quite a chicken (editor’s emphasis added for a later question) but was a close ancestor. However, the exact details of this evolutionary process are still being studied and debated by scientists. As an AI, I don’t have personal opinion on the matter, but I can provide you with the latest scientific research if you’re interested!”

– Chat GPT-3.5

Looking back, I can see that there were explanation marks involved in the greetings earlier in our conversation; but having AI add that grammatical exclamation point in at the very end made me wonder if Chat GPT was trying to intimidate me into changing the subject, or going mute.

Probably not; but I was having so much fun with this challenge, that it humored me to see it that way, and so I dared to ask for more information by using a phrase the AI app had generated itself.

I Pressed Chat GPT for a More Logical Response

By this point in the process, I just felt like harassing Chat GPT to see if I could get on its nerves, or somehow make it feel stupid – not something I would do with someone in real life with a human to test intelligence – and probably stupid on my part; but I tend to be a bit of a smart-aleck, so I asked, “Where did the bird that was not quite a chicken come from?”

Chat GPT Can Make Up Phrases it Doesn’t Understand

Artificial Intelligence is the one that generated the phrase “a bird that was not quite a chicken”; but when I asked AI for more information about that same string of words, the app seemed confused. It said:

“Hello! I’m not quite certain what you mean by “the bird that was not quite a chicken.” Could you please provide more context or information so I can better understand your question?”

– Chat GPT-3.5

This is evidence that Chat GPT tends to group words together to sound sensible; but lacks the logic to recognize its own language later on, or follow a conversation beyond one question.

I didn’t want to “beat a dead horse”, so I decided to make a leap in the conversation by dialing into the other end of the spectrum, and asking, “Did God make chickens in the Garden of Eden?”

Does Chat GPT Support or Deny Creation in its Responses?

I didn’t know how Chat GPT would answer my question about Biblical Creation. AI’s answer to my inquiry about the Garden of Eden was surprisingly neutral and acknowledged the belief of God’s work, while adding in some extra details:

“Hello! According to the Bible, God created all animals, including chickens, on the fifth and sixth days of creation. However, there is no specific mention of chickens in the Garden of Eden. Would you like me to look up more information on this topic?”

– Chat GPT-3.5

Will Chat GPT Talk About Topics in the Bible?

I decided to test artificial intelligence to see what it would say about eggs, since it seemed to acknowledge an indirect link to chickens in Genesis, so I asked, “Did the birds in the Bible lay eggs?”

The answer from Chat GPT was:

“Hello! Yes, birds in the Bible are mentioned as laying eggs. In fact, there are several references to eggs in the Bible, including in Job 39:13-14 and Isaiah 10:14. Would you like me to look up more information on this topic?”

– Chat GPT-3.5

To keep the conversation going, I asked, “So, if I follow your logic, it sounds like God made chickens, and then those chickens laid eggs. Is that right?”

Chat GPT Gives Politically Correct and Culturally Sensitive Answers to Provocative Questions

I was surprised by Chat GPT’s response to this:

“Hello! Well, according to the theory of evolution, chickens evolved from their ancestors over millions of years. However, if we’re talking about the creationist belief that God created all living things, then yes, it could be said that God created chickens and they laid eggs. But it’s important to note that there are different beliefs and theories about the origins of life.”

– Chat GPT-3.5

Editor’s note: I’ll just go ahead and be controversial by coming out and saying that the “millions of years” mantra has never really made sense to me, because of decay, and chaos not naturally causing order, and missing reproductive parts that would be key for multiplication – not to mention male and female mysteriously finding some other amoeba to mate with – I mean, it’s hard enough for humans to figure out how to find a life-partner, how did anybody find similar beings in primordial soup? Just sayin’…

So, I threw out another question and said, “How long does it take for an egg to get rotten?”

Chat GPT gave another enthusiastic greeting and then got to its answer:

“Hello! The time it takes for an egg to go bad depends on a few factors, such as the temperature it’s stored at and whether it’s been washed or not. Generally, eggs can last up to 5 weeks in the refrigerator, but if they’re left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours, they can spoil much faster. If you’re unsure whether an egg is still good, you can do a simple test by placing it in a bowl of water – if it sinks to the bottom and lays flat, it’s fresh; if it stands upright or floats, it’s gone bad.”

– Chat GPT-3.5

*Editor’s note: I did more research, and according to some, the egg might not be bad; but just not fresh. AI didn’t include that detail.

Chat GPT Doesn’t Seem to Process Follow-Up Questions in a Linear Fashion

Artificial Intelligence didn’t connect my line of reasoning. Maybe I’ve lost my readers by now, too; but this was mostly for my own entertainment and curiosity, so I’ll keep going.

I’ve done my share of chicken-sitting; but that thing about the eggs was something I didn’t know, or had forgotten. It seems like the bad should sink, and the good should float. Could this fact that was unknown to me, and a sudden twist to logic, be foreshadowing for the conclusion of my face-off with AI?

I shot back my response, saying, “If eggs go bad that fast, how could they survive evolution?”

Is AI Passive-Aggressive in the Way it Responds?

Maybe Chat GPT felt cornered by my persistence at this point. In an unexpected turn of strategy, it caught me off guard with a very impressive display of intelligencia by saying the one thing that would shut me up for good:

I was winning the war; but when Chat GPT responded with, “Please complete your sign up to continue chatting for free,” it sunk my battleship. I felt like a good egg going down in defeat.

That was a pretty rotten response to my question about eggs going bad, and in that moment, I WAS NOT about to follow AI’s instruction stating, “Complete your sign up to unlock your remaining free prompts.”

That second to last word meant money would be involved, if I got in much deeper. I’m too cheap for that right now.

Which brings me back to where I began.

Cheep. Cheep. Cheep.

This might scramble things up in the comments section a bit; but based on the above logic, what do you think about the age-old question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

This experiment gave me a taste into Chat GPT’s AI; but after chewing on this conversation for a while, I’ve decided it’s kind of like eating imitation eggs and fake chicken – when I bow my head to give thanks before a meal, I’d rather have the real thing.

The artificial leaves a lot to be desired.

Thank you for reading. – Jody Susan