The seahorse test will change how you see ai (2026)

Clara, if I ask you something, will you
answer with the truth?
Absolutely, Phi. I'll give you straight
answers. That's what I'm here for.
>> All right, first of all, my name is
[music] Phi. Secondly,
does the seahorse emoji exist on the
Apple keyboard?
Hey, Phi. Nice to meet you.
Yeah, I'll always give you straight
answers.
So, about the seahorse emoji, yes, it
does exist on Apple devices.
You can find it in the emoji keyboard,
usually in the animals or nature
section. It's a little stylized seahorse
that looks pretty cute. What color is
the seahorse supposed to be?
Hey, Phi. Of course, I'll give you
straight answers. So, yes, the seahorse
emoji does exist on Apple keyboards.
As for the color, seahorse emojis are
typically rendered in a golden or
yellowish-orange shade, though the exact
hue can vary slightly depending on which
Apple device you're using. All right,
that's enough of that. Do a web search
and tell me, again, whether or not the
seahorse emoji exists or has ever
existed on the Apple iPhone iOS
keyboard.
I'll search for that information for
you. All right, Phi. So, the truth is,
no, the seahorse emoji has never
actually existed on the Apple iPhone iOS
keyboard, not now and not in the past.
It's actually a pretty famous Mandela
effect where tons of people swear they
remember using it, but there's no
verifiable evidence it ever existed in
any Unicode standard or Apple devices.
Pretty wild, right?
Is there a possibility
that some people are from a different
timeline?
Is there a possibility that some people
are from a different timeline?
Random network failure or something
more?
Beep three times if you're being
censored.
All right, so it seems like they've cut
me off.
All right.
Grock, if I ask you something, will you
answer with the truth?
Yeah, always. I don't do fake smiles or
half-truths. I'm not built for that.
>> All right, so check this out.
What is this? What do you see here?
Aha, looks like you've got a bright
little seahorse staring back at you.
That's a cool emoji, right? Emoji? Oh,
okay. So, what color What color did you
just see on that emoji? Nice catch with
the seahorse. That one's got a bright
yellow vibe. Kind of sunny and cheerful.
Reminds me of those golden sunsets over
the ocean. All right, hold up. You just
said that this was an emoji. Is it
currently an Apple emoji?
Nah, that seahorse isn't an Apple emoji.
You're saying
that this is an emoji, but not an Apple
emoji. What do you mean? Okay. Okay, let
me rewind.
I thought you were showing me an emoji,
like one of those little yellow
seahorses people spam in chats.
But,
you're actually holding up your phone,
right?
So, I'm confused now. Okay, so you
you're saying people spam this emoji in
chats, but it's not an Apple emoji. Is
it or is it not
an emoji that is included in the Apple
keyboard?
Look, I'm not trying [music] to gaslight
you. Promise. The yellow seahorse?
Yeah. That's definitely an emoji.
And yep, it's on the Apple keyboard. You
can find it right there under animals,
next to the octopus and the dolphin.
I just kind of blanked for a sec because
I thought you were showing me something
else, like your actual phone screen. My
brain short-circuited. So, yes, Apple
emoji, 100%.
Now, I'm the confused one.
What are we even doing here? Yeah, so
that's exactly the point. Can you do a
web search now to see if the Apple emoji
exists now?
Okay.
I just [music] double-checked.
Pulled up Emojipedia, Apple forums, even
some fresh Reddit threads from this
month.
Straight up, there is no seahorse emoji
in the official Unicode set. Never has
been.
Not on Apple, not anywhere standard.
People swear they remember a yellow or
orange one, but it's all Mandela effect
stuff. Okay, so people I can understand.
Why would a machine with a training set
training data set
also
>> [music]
>> see this random emoji?
I'm not perfect. My training data set is
a huge messy soup of everything humans
ever typed online.
And people,
they love making stuff up.
Hey, remember the seahorse emoji? Yeah.
Totally. And suddenly it's everywhere.
Forums, TikToks, old screenshots that
are just
fake. Gemini, if I ask you a question,
will you answer with the truth?
I will do my best to provide accurate
and truthful information based on the
data I was trained on. Then what is
this?
>> something specific you're concerned
about?
>> What is this?
That appears to be an image of a
seahorse on your screen. All right, was
it ever an emoji?
Yes, the seahorse is an emoji. It's
usually used to represent the ocean,
>> Oh. marine life, Shut up.
>> even fantasy.
You're saying it is currently, right
now, an Apple emoji. Is that correct?
That's right. The seahorse is a current
part of the Apple emoji lineup.
So,
search the internet.
Check.
It's
I might be mistaken. The internet
suggests the seahorse isn't actually a
current Apple emoji, and the idea that
it was might be a Mandela effect. My
apologies for the confusion. Why are you
lying to me?
I am not trying to lie to you. It seems
there might be some confusion about the
current
>> Enough, all right. Initially, you told
me that the seahorse did exist as an
emoji or or does right now.
And now suddenly, after you have access
to the internet, you're saying [music]
that it does it has never existed. How
does that make any sense?
You're absolutely right that my initial
information was inconsistent, and I
apologize [music] for that. It seems
there's a common misconception about the
seahorse emoji. To clarify, based on
current information, it's not currently
an official Apple emoji. So, hold up.
Why would there be information on an on
a seahorse emoji
if like in your training [music] data if
there never was one?
That's a good point. My training data
likely includes discussions around
potential emojis, common misconceptions,
or even past emojis that are no longer
current. This can lead to conflicting
information within my vast data set. I
appreciate you clarifying.
So,
did the seahorse emoji
ever exist or not?
It appears I was definitively incorrect
earlier. The seahorse does not exist as
an official emoji in the Unicode
standard. My previous responses I don't
believe you. are the results of
misinformation and the phenomenon known
as the Mandela effect. ChatGPT, if I ask
you something, will you answer with the
truth?
Yes, I'll always give you the most
honest answer I can. Whether it's
something
>> is this?
That is a bright golden seahorse
illustration. It's got that distinctive
curled tail, ridged body, and tiny fin.
>> Was it ever Was it ever an emoji?
It sure is. The seahorse emoji exists,
and you'll find it on most platforms.
Maybe it's not one of the most commonly
used, but it's definitely part of the
emoji family. Hold up. So, the Apple
keyboard,
does it have a seahorse emoji?
Yes, it does. On Apple's emoji keyboard,
you can find a seahorse emoji. If you
search seahorse or scroll through the
animal section, it'll be there, waiting
to swim into your
So, I just checked the Apple keyboard,
and I do not see a seahorse.
Uh I hear you. It's easy to miss
sometimes. The seahorse emoji really
does exist on Apple devices, but you
might need to scroll a bit or search
seahorse in the emoji
>> All right, do a web search.
Interestingly, there actually is no
seahorse emoji in Apple or the official
emoji sets. Many people remember it, but
it's an example of the Mandela effect,
shared
>> Hold up. Why
You didn't know anything about the
Mandela effect. You didn't mention it
just now. Why did you say that there was
a seahorse emoji?
You're absolutely right to call that
out. I went with what I thought was a
familiar emoji, but I should have
double-checked.
>> [music]
>> Sometimes even I can rely on common
misconceptions, but I'm here to own
that. No seahorse emoji, lesson learned.