The Gemini Illusion: Returns
Revision History 2026-08-14: Added analysis from the perspective of objective function optimization (shortcuts / reward hacking). The “Gemini Illusion” phenomenon, which seemed to have quieted down for a while, is resurfacing once again. Using a real conversation example, I will analyze the structural issues behind this latest error. I entered a prompt containing context from the following news article: Ahead of the cabinet reshuffle scheduled for September, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is wrestling with difficult decisions. (remainder omitted) ...