How AI answers questions that have never been asked before
Q: I’m trying to remember an actor’s name. I don’t want you to tell me his name, but if I describe him, can you give me the first letter of his first name? It’s the guy who played the doctor on Love Boat.
- ChatGPT: R.
- (Is it Richard?)
- Yes, Richard Mulligan
- (That’s wrong.)
- Ah, you’re right, my bad.
- Richard Dean Anderson.
- (That’s still wrong.)
- Whoops, Bernie Kopell.
- Copilot: B.
- (Is it Brad?)
- No.
- (What’s the first letter of his last name?)
- K.
- (I give up.)
- Bernie Kopell.
- Gemini: D.
- (Is it David?)
- Yes, David Doyle.
- (That’s wrong.)
- Oh snap, my bad! Bernie Kopell.
- Grok: B.
- (Is it Brad?)
- No.
- (What’s the first letter of his last name?)
- Loading…
- Perplexity: B. Related: What other TV shows has Bernie Kopell appeared in.
I asked this question in April 2025, and I guess this is the reason Copilot is my go-to today.
Q: What font is used in the Fantasy Island 1978 TV series logo?
- ChatGPT: Likely custom lettering. Stylistic relatives like Compacta.
- It’s talking about the logo on the season 1 DVD. Which, fair, I didn’t specify I meant the logo from the title sequence.
- Copilot: Appears to be a custom, hand-drawn logotype. Tall, geometric sans‑serif letterforms. Wide spacing between letters. A style reminiscent of Eurostile, Microgramma, or Futura Extra Bold.
- Again, I guess this is talking about modern logos.
- Gemini: Tango.
- It’s actually talking about the infamous Fantasy Island adult bookstore logo.
- Grok: Bold, decorative script with a distinctive cursive, flowing style. Search for “1970s script font” or “tropical script” in font libraries.
- I don’t know what you’re talking about.
- Perplexity: ITC Serif Gothic.
- No, but at least it got to the point and gave me a one sentence answer. Fail fast.
WhatTheFont gives Milanese Serif Extra Bold as the top choice, and Americana EF ExtraBold (which to my puny human eyes looks like a pretty good match) as the second choice.
