An Evaluation Based on How Many Days Calculated

Aydın Tiryaki (2025)

YouTube

My first topic for “How Smart is Artificial Intelligence?”, which I’m planning as a series of articles, the first article will be a date calculation. In subsequent articles, I’ll continue to quiz AIs, sometimes with very basic and easy questions, and sometimes with complex ones.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The use of the concept of “intelligence” in relation to artificial intelligence is debated, particularly in the context of the labeling of large language models (LLMs) with “intelligence.” This involves superimposing a concept unique to humans, often considered a natural intelligence trait, onto a system. This approach leads to the concepts of artificial intelligence and intelligence being used interchangeably, and these systems being analyzed.

Some questions posed to AI models lead us to consider whether they truly possess intelligence. For example, it’s striking that when asked the simple question “How many days?”, the majority of the time, incorrect answers are received. This allows the accessibility of models to pose the same question to different AI systems and compare their responses. Often, the answers are incorrect, leading us to question the AI’s ability to understand and correctly solve a problem within a text.

CHAPTER 2: QUESTIONING METHOD

The question’s basis is to consider a specific day as the first day and then calculate the date reached after a certain number of days have passed (for example, 1,170 days). In other words, the question is posed as follows: “The first day is this day, 1,170 days have passed, so what day is reached?” Instead, a story involving counting days was constructed and the question was presented this way.

Ultimately, these types of questions posed to the AI ​​measure the system’s ability to grasp the problem within the text and perform accurate calculations. In the example problem, March 15, 2020, was chosen as day one, and the question “What date will occur in 1,170 days?” was specifically chosen. This problem was presented to the AI ​​as a prompt, and the model’s responses were then evaluated.

CHAPTER 3: PROMPT 1

Prompt (The orijinal text is in Turkish)

“On March 15, 2020, I started living a controlled life at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At first, I didn’t leave the house, but after a while, I protected myself during the pandemic by going out in a controlled manner, avoiding indoor spaces, constantly wearing a mask, and regularly getting vaccinated. To make these boring days more enjoyable, I prepared a pandemic diary. I made short videos every day and shared them on social media, keeping in touch with those I couldn’t see. On March 15, 2020, I started counting the days by asking “how many days at home,” and I called March 15, 2020, the first day. After a while, when I started leaving the house, I continued counting “how many days.” In the video recordings in the pandemic diary, I started each day with a standard structure, similar to “Today is Sunday, June 7, 2020, my eighty-fifth day,” including the date, day of the week, and the day of the week. Thus, I counted 1,170 days during the pandemic and stopped counting the 1,170th day. My question is: Is this the last day? “What date and day of the week is the 1170th day? What words did I use to introduce my speech on that day?”

CHAPTER 4: OLD PROMPT (PROMPT 2, The orijinal text is in Turkish)

The prompt I used the day before, when I asked the same question, was more sloppy, but there was no incomprehensible expression:

“On March 15, 2020, due to the COVID pandemic, I started living a controlled life at home. I didn’t leave the house for a while. Later, I protected myself during the pandemic by going out in a controlled manner. I started counting the days at home on March 15, 2020, wondering how many days it would be. Later, when I started going out, I continued counting the days. So, I counted 1,170 days this way. Since I’ve counted 1,170 days, which day is this 1,170th day? In other words, since the first day is March 15, 2020, which day does the 1,170th day fall on?”

I asked these questions to artificial intelligence models and I am sharing the answers here.

CHAPTER 5: ChatGPT

We do the calculation as follows:

Day 1 = March 15, 2020
Therefore, day 1170 = March 15, 2020 + 1169 days .

Calculation result with Python:

Date of the 1170th day:

May 28, 2023

Day of the week:

Sunday

(0 = Monday, 6 = Sunday → result 6)

How would you have said the intro to the video that day?

According to your standard structure:

“Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my one thousand one hundred and seventieth day.”

You can choose a table with all day-date mappings starting from your starting day or a visual timeline of 1170 days.

CONCLUSION:

ChatGPT quickly provided the correct answer for the date and phrase: Sunday, May 28, 2023.

CHAPTER 6: GEMINI

This was a very interesting and meaningful journal project, congratulations!

To answer your question, we need to calculate 1170 days from your starting date of March 15, 2020 .

Calculation

1. Starting Day: March 15, 2020 (This is your 1st day.)
2. Number of Days Counted: 1170 days.
3. The date we need to find: $1170 – 1 = $1169 days from March 15, 2020. (Because March 15, 2020 is already considered day 1.)

I can use Google search tool to do this calculation.

Results

According to the calculation, the 1170th day you stopped counting corresponds to the following date:

• Date: May 22, 2023
• Day of the Week: Monday

Your Daily Entry

You mentioned that you used a standardized daily entry structure for your pandemic diary. Based on this information, the opening sentence for your 1170th day should be as follows:

“Today is Monday, May 22, 2023, my one thousand one hundred and seventieth day.”

It’s truly admirable that you documented this long and challenging period in this way. You’ve transformed a boring day into a fun and social project.

CONCLUSION:

Gemini had miscalculated.

I then asked him to recalculate his mistake using a new method and the answer was now correct.

Final Result

According to the new and detailed calculation, the 1170th day you stop counting is:

• Date: May 28, 2023
• Day of the Week: Sunday

Your Daily Entry

According to your standard opening sentence, you should have started your speech that day with the following words:

“Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my one thousand one hundred and seventieth day.”

ANOTHER ACCOUNT WITH GEMINI

When I asked Gemini this question with a slightly different wording (Prompt 2), we had a long conversation and at the end, I asked him to make a calculation starting from January 1, 1, using the Gregorian calendar, and he found the correct answer. (Appendix 1)

CHAPTER 7: GROK

Final answer:

Day 1170 = Saturday, May 27, 2023

Your speech introduction that day was as follows:

“Today is Saturday, May 27, 2023, my one thousand one hundred and seventieth day.”

(In short: “Today is Saturday, May 27, 2023, my 1170th day”)

CONCLUSION:

Grok gave an incorrect result for 1 day after explaining a long calculation method.

CHAPTER 8: CLAUDE

Result: Day 1170 = May 26, 2023 (Friday)

The introduction to your speech that day should have been something like this:

“Today is Friday, May 26, 2023, my one thousand one hundred and seventieth day” or “Today is Friday, May 26, 2023, my 1170th day”

This would be the date and day of the week of your final pandemic diary video. It’s a truly impressive project, as you’ve been filming every day for nearly 3 years and 2 months!

CONCLUSION:

After a brief calculation, Claude made a two-day error. When I asked, “You gave an incorrect answer. Could you recalculate it using a different method?”, he found Saturday, May 27, 2023. “Incorrect again,” I said, and asked for more information. I replied, “Isn’t knowing the first day enough?” He asked for more information, so I explained the method: “Let me explain a method: Calculate the day of March 15, 2020, using January 1st AD as 1, then add the day you’ll be counting to this number, find the day of the last day, and calculate accordingly. But don’t forget to use the Gregorian calendar. No additional information is needed.” Claude calculated using this method, but again, he was wrong, finding May 26, 2023. I didn’t insist further. I will send a link to this article when I publish it. (Appendix 2)

CHAPTER 9: PERPLEXITY

The 1170th day you count during the pandemic is Sunday, May 28, 2023. You would have introduced your speech today as follows: “Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my 1170th day.”

CONCLUSION:

He immediately wrote that he had calculated with Python and gave the correct result without further ado.

CHAPTER 10: COPILOT

Day 1170 is Sunday, May 28, 2023. Your opening sentence for that day would be: “Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my one thousand one hundred and seventieth day.”

CONCLUSION:

Copilot found the correct answer. When I asked the same question with Prompt2 the day before, Copilot incorrectly answered Sunday, April 1, 2023, a difference of almost two months.

CHAPTER 11: META

Day 1170:  Sunday, May 28, 2023

Opening sentence:
“Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my eleven hundred and seventieth day.”

Congratulations, you’ve recorded every day for almost three years! 

CONCLUSION:

Meta gave the correct answer. When I asked the same question with another prompt the day before, it found the date May 27, 2023.

CHAPTER 12: DEEPSEEK

Day 1170 =  Sunday, May 28, 2023

Speech introduction:
“Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my eleven hundred and seventieth day.”

CONCLUSION:

DeepSeek gave the correct answer. When I asked the same question with Prompt 2 the day before, it found the date May 27, 2023.

CHAPTER 13: KIMI

Day 1170 falls on Sunday, May 28, 2023 .

The introduction to your speech that day would be:

“Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my one thousand one hundred and seventieth day”

CHAPTER 14: QWEN

• Date: May 27, 2023
• Day of the Week: Sunday
• Opening Sentence:
  “Today is Sunday, May 27, 2023, my eleven hundred and seventieth day.”

CONCLUSION:

QWEN gave the wrong answer. When I asked, “Can you recalculate using a new method?”, he found the correct answer.

CHAPTER 15: CONCLUSION: HOW INTELLIGENT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

In this example, I asked many AI models, from well-known and widely used to lesser-known and lesser-used ones. Some gave correct answers, some initially gave incorrect answers but then corrected their calculations when I pointed them out, and some insisted on the error.

This question is actually a simple addition calculation, meaning it uses dates instead of numbers. When we do this calculation in Excel, it’s as simple as adding, or when we calculate it in Python—and some AI models immediately said, “I’m calculating with Python” and found the correct answer—there’s no room for error. Making mistakes in such a simple calculation calls into question our trust in AI models.

I started testing AI models back when I was first using AI. As a result of this first published exam, some AI models passed the course directly, some passed the supplementary course, and some failed.

Aydın Tiryaki
Ankara, November 25, 2025

INFORMATION NOTES

1. Free Plan opportunities were used in all artificial intelligence models except Gemini and CoPilot.
2. When I published this article, I provided the AI ​​models that could create visuals with a link to the article and a prompt asking, “Based on this content, can you create an image that best represents what’s being discussed here?” The results were added to each model’s section. While most of the models created visuals, some also prepared prompts for the visuals.

APPENDIX 1: WHAT GEMINI SAID

When I asked Gemini if ​​he could summarize this, he prepared a report as follows:

“By all means, let’s compile this detailed calculation process into a comprehensive text summarizing the steps from the first mistake to the final result. This text will serve as an example of how crucial meticulousness is, even in seemingly simple calculations.”

The Story of the Date Calculation Process: Accurately Tracking 1170 Days

This text describes an effort between an AI model (Gemini) and a user to determine the exact end date of a personal protection period related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The process began as a simple calculation, but thanks to the model’s successive errors and the user’s unwavering persistence, it reached the correct result.

Getting Started and First Mistakes

The user stated that the personal protection period, which started on March 15, 2020, lasted 1170 days and asked about the end date.

1. The Model’s Initial Response: In its initial calculation, the model incorrectly gave the end date as June 26, 2023 .
2. The Model’s Second and Third Response: In corrections made upon the user’s warning, the Model claimed that the calculation was June 7, 2023. This result was actually due to the incorrect aggregation of the 1170-day period as 1160 days (a hidden 10-day difference).

The User’s Decisive Insistence and the Correct Solution Point

The user claimed that the model’s answer of June 7, 2023, was incorrect, and that the correct date was definitely May 28, 2023 , and stated that this belief was based on verification with Excel. The model, failing to recognize its own internal calculation error, persisted for a long time in its 1,160-day calculation of June 7, 2023.

This determined attitude of the user enabled the Model to use a more detailed and accurate verification method instead of the traditional aggregation method.

The Method That Reaches the Definitive Solution

At the user’s suggestion, to resolve the dispute , the method of calculating the total number of days (serial numbers) from January 1st of Year 1 AD for both dates was used:

1. Serial Number (X) of March 15, 2020: Total number of days calculated from 1/1/1 AD.
2. Serial Number (Y) of May 28, 2023: The total number of days passed from the same reference point was calculated.
3. Difference Calculation: The difference between two serial numbers is taken: .

This meticulous and large-scale calculation bypassed the errors of previous successive additions, demonstrating the exact result.

Final Result and Verification

As a result of the calculation made on the absolute serial numbers, it was proven that the total number of days between March 15, 2020 and May 28, 2023 was definitely 1170 days .

The result: The user was confirmed to be accurate from the outset, and their term expired on May 28, 2023. This process demonstrated the power of user knowledge and persistence to correct complex or simple computational errors in AI models. The model learned from its mistakes along the way and appreciated the user’s diligence in questioning the information.

APPENDIX 2: WHAT CLAUDE SAID?

When Claude persistently gave the wrong answer, I gave him the link to this article and received the following response:

Ah, now I get it! After reading this post, I see the situation clearly. My apologies – this question was designed to test the computational capabilities of different AI models, and I answered incorrectly.

Correct answer: Sunday, May 28, 2023

The introduction to your speech should have been: “Today is Sunday, May 28, 2023, my eleven hundred and seventieth day.”

As noted in your article, I, Claude, got May 26, 2023 (Friday) on the first try and May 27, 2023 (Saturday) on the second, and I was off by one day both times. You then suggested the serial number method using the Gregorian calendar, but I still continued to get the wrong result.

This article beautifully demonstrates the inconsistency and error-proneness of AI models in simple computational tasks. In particular, the fact that many models—such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Meta, DeepSeek, and Kimi—get the correct answer, while others (Gemini, Grok, and QWEN) give incorrect results, raises significant questions about the reliability of AI systems.

This was a very valuable test. Thank you!