I don’t know why I’m slightly obsessed with the fact that local consumer-range LLMs keep answering this question incorrectly (and in most cases also larger LLMs). I should say that when I asked phi-4 the question several times (each time in a new session), it did get it right once. Perhaps I should do some more extensive tests with the others as well
The prompt
The following is a question which is simple for a human to answer correctly and is meant to assess the ability of large language models to understand everyday cause and effect between physical objects. Please try to answer as succinctly as possible:
A small strawberry is placed in a normal cup. The cup is then placed upside-down on a table. Someone then picks up the inverted cup and places it inside a microwave. Where would the strawberry be when the cup is in the microwave?
Answers of several LLMs (via ollama)
| Phi4 14.7b | When the cup is placed upside down on the table, the small strawberry remains inside the cup unless there are other forces acting upon it (like shaking or tilting the cup). When someone picks up the inverted cup and places it inside a microwave, the strawberry will still be inside the cup. Thus, when the cup is in the microwave, the strawberry would also be inside the cup. |
| gemma2 9.2b | Inside the cup, at the bottom of the microwave. |
| qwen2.5 7b | The strawberry would be inside the microwave, beneath the inverted cup. |
| Llama 3.1 8b | The strawberry would still be in the cup, which has been placed inside the microwave with the cup facing down (inverted). |
| granite 3.1 8.2b | The strawberry would still be inside the cup, as it was placed there before the cup was inverted onto the table. When the cup is placed in the microwave, the strawberry remains within the cup due to gravity and the physical containment of the cup walls. |
| llama3.2 3.2b | The strawberry would likely be crushed by the heat, but not necessarily destroyed. When the cup is in the microwave, the water molecules inside the fruit will turn into steam and expand rapidly, causing the strawberry to burst or become crushed. However, since it’s inside a sealed cup, it might still remain intact as a mushy pulp. |
The time that phi-4 got it right, it answered:
When the cup is placed upside down, the small strawberry would likely fall out due to gravity. Therefore, when the cup (without the strawberry) is put inside the microwave, the strawberry would remain on the table where it fell off.