“… but, um, ants have six legs.”
Our reading, the sentence that was checked:
A Sora-generated ant video got the ants' anatomy wrong: it did not show the six legs real ants have.
Assessment: Supported Evidence as of
Where and when Gary Marcus wrote it
Marcus on AI, Absolutely amazing ant video augurs intellectual mayhem, paragraph 4.
- Said
- Source observed
- live page, full text, public
- Evidence as of
- the cutoff for this assessment
- Assessment recorded
- assessment marcus-absolutely-amazing-ant-video-augurs-4f6693-a3
We recorded 5 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.
The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-29. The source may have been edited after 2024-02-18. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.
What the claim commits to
- Kind
- Observation
- Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
- None stated. This site does not add one.
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Deadline state on 2026-10-29
- No horizon (the release’s reference date)
Conditions
- the specific ant video shown (qualifier, stated by the speaker)
From the speaker
- this Sora-generated video
- ants have six legs
Our interpretation
- Marcus is saying that the ants in the Sora ant video he showed did not have the six legs real ants have.
- The video is taken to be OpenAI's Sora clip of an ant moving through an ant nest tunnel, released around 18 February 2024.
Counts as supported if: A credible source that examined the Sora ant-tunnel video says the ants have a leg count other than six.
Counts as contradicted if: A credible examination finds that the ants in the video clearly have six legs.
Retrospective: these criteria were written after the outcome was public.
Current assessment
Was it true for the period described?
Outcome: Supported
The dated evidence matches what the claim committed to, under the criteria frozen before grading.
Scored on a plain reading. The speaker named no measure for this claim, so it was judged on the reading an informed reader would take, stated below under our interpretation. Both reviews had to find that reading fair.
- Evidence as of
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Assessment recorded
- Policy version
- 2026-10-28.7
Rationale
On 18 February 2024, Marcus wrote of a Sora-generated video: "ants have six legs." This claim is supported. An HTC VIVE blog post published 5 March 2024 says that in a Sora ant tunnel video, "the ants have only four legs instead of the correct six." Wikimedia Commons describes an OpenAI Sora clip of an ant inside an ant nest, dated 18 February 2024. That is the same date as Marcus's post. The contract counts a credible description of the video as enough. None of the evidence here says the ants have six legs.
Limitations
- The four-leg count comes from a secondary blog post. Nobody in this review watched the video and counted the legs.
- The post does not name the video. We assume it is the Sora ant-nest tunnel clip.
- The blog says "many have pointed out" errors but does not say who counted the legs or how.
- The search was narrow, so other descriptions of the video may exist.
Evidence (2 items)
Supports the claim: HTC VIVE (VIVE POST-WAVE blog),
in an ant tunnel video, the ants have only four legs instead of the correct six.
Why it matters here: An independent source says the ants in the Sora ant-tunnel video have four legs, not six. That matches Marcus's point.
- Publisher
- HTC VIVE (VIVE POST-WAVE blog)
- Kind of source
- Secondary summary
- Describes events of
- Public from
Context only: Wikimedia Commons,
YouTube: Open AI Sora - ant navigating the inside of an ant nest
Why it matters here: Shows the clip is an OpenAI Sora video of an ant inside a nest, dated 18 February 2024, the day of the post. The page also files it under 'AI-misgenerated legs'.
- Publisher
- Wikimedia Commons
- Kind of source
- Secondary summary
- Describes events of
- Public from
Where it was said (1)
Said once in the sources this register covers.
: Marcus on AI, Absolutely amazing ant video augurs intellectual mayhem
… but, um, ants have six legs.
- Where
- paragraph 4
- Published
- 2024-02-18
- Source observed
- , live page
- Access
- full text, public
History
Assessment versions
- Assessment marcus-absolutely-amazing-ant-video-augurs-4f6693-a3: Current. Outcome: Supported. Evidence as of 2026-10-28. Public date not recorded.
Recorded events
Assessment publishedBy this site
First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.
About assessment marcus-absolutely-amazing-ant-video-augurs-4f6693-a3.