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I've been quite impressed by Google's AI overviews. This past week, though, I was interested in what I thought was a fairly simple question - to calculate compound interest.

Specifically, I was curious about how Harvard's endowment has grown from its initial £780 in 1638, so I asked Google to calculate compound interest for me. A variety of searches all yield a reasonable formula which is then calculated to be quite wrong. For example: {calculate the present value of $100 compounded annually for 386 years at 3% interest} yields $0.736. {how much would a 100 dollar investment in 1638 be worth in 2025 if invested} yields $3,903.46. {100 dollars compounded annually for 386 years at 3 percent} yields "The future value of the investment after 386 years is approximately $70,389." And my favorite: {100 dollars compounded since 1638} tells me a variety of outcomes for different interest rates: "A = 100 * (1 + 0.06)^387 A ≈ 8,090,950.14 A = 100 * (1 + 0.05)^387 A ≈ 10,822,768.28 A = 100 * (1 + 0.04)^387 A ≈ 14,422,758.11"

How can we be so reasonable and yet so bad!?

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778598

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.techinasia.com/news/israeli-ai-startup-ex-ceo-admits-forging-contracts-with-chatgpt

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778537

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202503/hopae-launches-1m-digital-id-developer-challenge

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778535

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/06/14/1093789/how-to-opt-out-of-meta-ai-training/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778533

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2025/apr/whats-driving-surge-us-corporate-profits

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778475

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/inside-the-countrys-saddest-airport-lounge-42bc7474

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778440

Points: 5

# Comments: 1

Article URL: https://www.jns.org/yaakov-kirschens-other-legacy/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778436

Points: 7

# Comments: 1

Article URL: https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2024_IC3Report.pdf

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778428

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopolis_and_Octlantis

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778424

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/us-dollar-value-decline-trump-sell-off-tariffs/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778401

Points: 7

# Comments: 1

Article URL: https://www.akingump.com/en/insights/blogs/eye-on-fda/hhs-fda-announce-phase-out-of-synthetic-dyes-in-foods-as-maha-agenda-advances

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778397

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/restoring-equality-of-opportunity-and-meritocracy/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778396

Points: 1

# Comments: 2

Article URL: https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/24/ransomware_scum_and_other_crims/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778391

Points: 4

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778375

Points: 1

# Comments: 2

Article URL: https://dave.recoil.org/unikernels/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778373

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.10777

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778368

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.15399

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778359

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Article URL: https://www.scworld.com/news/hackers-exploiting-vulnerabilities-at-higher-rates-reports-verizon

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43778351

Points: 1

# Comments: 0