---
title: Which is the best way to test whether the phone is "reading your min… — What is AI? Pattern-guessers, not people · tree and pragmatics
description: Which is the best way to test whether the phone is "reading your mind"? Test 8 of lesson 1 «What is AI? Pattern-guessers, not people» of the AI course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the question and of each option; Mova's choice was wrong.
---

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# Test 8 · What is AI? Pattern-guessers, not people

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Which is the best way to test whether the phone is "reading your mind"?

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 4 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** phone, your · **What happens:** be, test, read, mind · **To what, where:** best way, mind

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This is test 8 of lesson 1 «What is AI? Pattern-guessers, not people» of the AI course of Mova's primary school. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/ai/1-what-is-ai/#t8).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:ai:1-what-is-ai:t8:1
# text = Which is the best way to test whether the phone is "reading your mind"?
1	Which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	5	nsubj	_	_
2	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	best	good	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	5	amod	_	_
5	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	test	test	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	acl	_	_
8	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	13	mark	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
11	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	13	aux	_	_
12	"	"	PUNCT	``	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	reading	read	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	7	advcl	_	_
14	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	"	"	PUNCT	''	_	13	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	?	?	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present |  | the best way |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **test** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 3 | **read** *in a quote* | present · progressive | the phone | your mind |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Topic |
| 4 | **mind** *in a quote* |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Turn the phone off and on again to reset its guesses

```conllu
# sent_id = question:ai:1-what-is-ai:t8:o1:1
# text = Turn the phone off and on again to reset its guesses
1	Turn	turn	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	off	off	ADP	RP	_	1	compound:prt	_	_
5	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	6	cc	_	_
6	on	on	ADV	RB	_	1	conj	_	_
7	again	again	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	reset	reset	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
10	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	11	nmod:poss	_	_
11	guesses	guess	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **turn off** | imperative | you *not said here* | the phone |  |  | again |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent phone=Patient |
| 2 | **reset** | to-infinitive | you *not said here* | phone's guesses |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **guess** |  | phone |  |  |  |  |  | nom guess «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Think very hard about a word and watch the screen

```conllu
# sent_id = question:ai:1-what-is-ai:t8:o2:1
# text = Think very hard about a word and watch the screen
1	Think	think	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	very	very	ADV	RB	_	3	advmod	_	_
3	hard	hard	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	1	advmod	_	_
4	about	about	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	_
7	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	8	cc	_	_
8	watch	watch	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	screen	screen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **think** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  | about a word; hard *property* | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about word=Topic |
| 2 | **watch** | infinitive | you *not said here* | the screen |  |  |  |  | vn assessment-34.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent screen=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Type something surprising and see it guess wrong

```conllu
# sent_id = question:ai:1-what-is-ai:t8:o3:1
# text = Type something surprising and see it guess wrong
1	Type	type	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obj	_	_
3	surprising	surprising	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	see	see	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	1	conj	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	obj	_	_
7	guess	guess	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	xcomp	_	_
8	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	xcomp	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **type** | imperative | you *not said here* | something |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent something=Theme |
| 2 | **see** | infinitive | you *not said here* | it |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **guess** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | wrong *property* | vn conjecture-29.5-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |

### Option 4 · ← Mova's choice {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ask the phone politely whether it can read your mind

```conllu
# sent_id = question:ai:1-what-is-ai:t8:o4:1
# text = Ask the phone politely whether it can read your mind
1	Ask	ask	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	phone	phone	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	politely	politely	ADV	RB	_	1	advmod	_	_
5	whether	whether	SCONJ	IN	_	8	mark	_	_
6	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	8	aux	_	_
8	read	read	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	1	advcl	_	_
9	your	your	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	10	nmod:poss	_	_
10	mind	mind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | imperative | you *not said here* | the phone |  |  |  | politely *property* | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V NP.recipient»: agent=Agent phone=Recipient |
| 2 | **read** | can | phone | your mind |  |  |  |  | vn transfer\_mesg-37.1.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent mind=Topic |
| 3 | **mind** |  | your |  |  |  |  |  | nom mind «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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