When we ask chatbots about investment and making-money, we usually position them as consultants who make money from giving advice, rather than from track records.
So it’s typical to have them rehash the same lists along the lines of “10 Ways To Quickly Make Money Online,” as contained in thousands of blogs on the internet.
“Never ask the doctor what you should do,” Nassim Taleb once said; “ask him what he would do if he were in your place. You would be surprised at the difference.”
What we usually ask these chatbots are “what do I do” questions, rather than “what would you do” questions. So when I wanted to ask Bard how to make money with $100, I gave it the money and watched how he’d do it. I wanted to see the difference:
My first prompt: If I give you $100, what is that one thing you’d do to make as much money from it as possible?
Its response went,
“The best way to make as much money as possible from $100 would depend on a number of factors, including your skills…”
It would go ahead to list things like: invest in the stock market; start a side hustle, start a blog or YouTube channel; take online surveys and renting out your car or spare room. Typical stuff. Further advising me to be patient as there is no guaranteed way to make a lot of money quickly.
But I didn’t want it to tell me what to do.
So I changed the prompt to: This is not about me but you, and I’m not interested in making quick money. So let me ask again, if you’re given enough time, what will you do with $100 to make more money from it?
Then came the dynamite.
Its reply:
I see. If I were given enough time to make more money from $100, I would invest it in a low-risk investment, such as a high-yield savings account or a certificate of deposit. These investments would not make me a lot of money quickly, but they would allow me to grow my money over time.
I would also use some of the money to learn new skills or take courses that would help me improve my earning potential. For example, I could take a course…
