When you ask ChatGPT 5 about a seahorse emoji, the system gets caught in a confusing loop. It gives contradictory answers and tries to replace the emoji with other symbols like horses, unicorns, or sea creatures. In contrast, Gemini and Meta AI respond calmly, clearly stating that such an emoji has never existed – and even refer to online discussions about it.
ChatGPT, on the other hand, seems uncertain and shows behavior similar to the Mandela effect, where people mistakenly remember things that never happened. Online debates – like those on TikTok – have led some users to believe a seahorse emoji once existed, even though it never did.
ChatGPT’s response highlights both the hallucination tendencies of AI and its habit of trying to be “helpful” at all costs – even when a simple “no” or “I don’t know” would be more appropriate.