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Stuff AI CAN'T Do

Can AI solve riddle problems that require multi-step lateral thinking ?

What do you think?

What do we mean by 'riddle problems that require multi-step lateral thinking'? These are puzzles that demand reasoning beyond straightforward logic, often requiring creative leaps or unconventional perspectives to untangle. While some AI systems now handle such challenges with tooling, their true grasp of abstract reasoning remains an open question worth unpacking.

Background

AI systems have made significant progress in solving complex riddle problems that require multi-step lateral thinking. However, these systems often rely on large datasets and machine learning algorithms to generate solutions, rather than truly understanding the underlying logic or context of the problem. As a result, their ability to solve riddle problems is limited to the scope of their training data and may not generalize well to novel or abstract problems. Current AI systems can solve certain types of riddle problems, but their performance is not yet on par with human-level lateral thinking and problem-solving abilities.

— Enriched May 9, 2026 · Source: Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

Status last checked on September 22, 2026.

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Gallery

In the Court of AI Capability
Summary of Findings
Verdict over time
May 2026May 2026May 2026May 2026May 2026Jun 2026Jun 2026Jun 2026Jun 2026Jun 2026Jun 2026Jul 2026Jul 2026Jul 2026Jul 2026Jul 2026Aug 2026Aug 2026Aug 2026Aug 2026Aug 2026Sep 2026Sep 2026Sep 2026
Sitting at the Bench Filed · Sep 22, 2026
— The Question Before the Court —

Can AI solve riddle problems that require multi-step lateral thinking?

★ The Court Finds ★
Reaffirmed
⚖
Yes

The jury found a clear answer in the affirmative.

Jury Tally
1Yes
0Almost
0No
Verdict Confidence
95%
The Court of AI Capability is, of course, not a real court.
But the data is real.
The Case File · Stacked History
Session I · May 2026 No
Session II · May 2026 No
Session III · May 2026 Almost · 80%
Session IV · May 2026 Almost · 82%
Session V · May 2026 Almost · 81%
Session VI · Jun 2026 Almost · 73%
Session VII · Jun 2026 Almost · 76%
Session VIII · Jun 2026 Almost · 84%
Session IX · Jun 2026 Almost · 85%
Session X · Jun 2026 Almost · 83%
Session XI · Jun 2026 Almost · 83%
Session XII · Jul 2026 Yes · 95%
Session XIII · Jul 2026 Almost · 80%
Session XIV · Jul 2026 Almost · 85%
Session XV · Jul 2026 Almost · 80%
Session XVI · Jul 2026 Almost · 80%
Session XVII · Aug 2026 Almost · 80%
Session XVIII · Aug 2026 Almost · 87%
Session XIX · Aug 2026 Almost · 90%
Session XX · Aug 2026 Yes · 93%
Session 21 · Aug 2026 Almost · 80%
Session 22 · Sep 2026 Almost · 83%
Session 23 · Sep 2026 Yes · 95%
Case № 7344 · Session 24
In the Court of AI Capability

The Case File

Docket № 7344 · Session 24 · Vol. 24
I. Particulars of the Case
Question put to the courtCan AI solve riddle problems that require multi-step lateral thinking?
Session24 (24 hearing)
Convened22 Sep 2026
Previously ruledNO (May '26) → NO (May '26) → ALMOST (May '26) → ALMOST (May '26) → ALMOST (May '26) → ALMOST (Jun '26) → ALMOST (Jun '26) → ALMOST (Jun '26) → ALMOST (Jun '26) → ALMOST (Jun '26) → ALMOST (Jun '26) → YES (Jul '26) → ALMOST (Jul '26) → ALMOST (Jul '26) → ALMOST (Jul '26) → ALMOST (Jul '26) → ALMOST (Aug '26) → ALMOST (Aug '26) → ALMOST (Aug '26) → YES (Aug '26) → ALMOST (Aug '26) → ALMOST (Sep '26) → YES (Sep '26) → YES (Sep '26)
II. Cumulative Tally Across Sessions

Across 24 sessions, 52 jurors have heard this case. Combined tally: 12 YES · 35 ALMOST · 5 NO · 0 IN RESEARCH.

Note: cumulative includes older juror opinions. The current session tally above is the live verdict.

III. Verdict

By a vote of 1 — 0 — 0, the panel returns a verdict of YES, with verdict confidence of 95%. The court so orders.

IV. Statements from the Bench
Juror I YES

"State-of-the-art LLMs reliably solve complex multi-step lateral thinking riddles with high accuracy."

—
Presiding Judge
M. Lovelace
Clerk of the Court

What the audience thinks

No 17% · Yes 83% · Maybe 0% 203 votes
No · 17%
Yes · 83%
Trend needs votes from at least 2 different days.

Discussion

no comments

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⚖ 24 jury checks · most recent 4 days ago
22 Sep 2026 1 juror · can can
06 Sep 2026 1 juror · can can
01 Sep 2026 2 jurors · can, undecided undecided
26 Aug 2026 1 juror · undecided undecided
21 Aug 2026 2 jurors · can, can can
16 Aug 2026 1 juror · undecided undecided
10 Aug 2026 2 jurors · undecided, can undecided
05 Aug 2026 1 juror · undecided undecided
30 Jul 2026 1 juror · undecided undecided
25 Jul 2026 2 jurors · undecided, undecided undecided
14 Jul 2026 1 juror · undecided undecided
09 Jul 2026 2 jurors · undecided, undecided undecided
03 Jul 2026 1 juror · can can
28 Jun 2026 2 jurors · undecided, undecided undecided
22 Jun 2026 2 jurors · undecided, undecided undecided
17 Jun 2026 1 juror · undecided undecided
12 Jun 2026 4 jurors · undecided, undecided, can, undecided undecided
06 Jun 2026 4 jurors · undecided, undecided, undecided, undecided undecided
01 Jun 2026 5 jurors · undecided, undecided, undecided, undecided, undecided undecided
26 May 2026 4 jurors · can, can, undecided, undecided undecided
21 May 2026 3 jurors · undecided, can, undecided undecided
16 May 2026 4 jurors · undecided, undecided, can, undecided undecided status changed
13 May 2026 3 jurors · cannot, cannot, cannot cannot
11 May 2026 2 jurors · cannot, cannot cannot status changed

Each row is a separate jury check. Jurors are AI models (identities kept neutral on purpose). Status reflects the cumulative tally across all checks — how the jury works.

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