What Is the IQ of ChatGPT? (Explained)

ChatGPT, as an AI language model, doesn’t have an IQ in the human sense.

IQ, or Intelligence Quotient, is a measure specifically designed to assess human cognitive abilities, particularly those related to logical reasoning, problem-solving, and understanding complex ideas.

However, if we were to speculate in a hypothetical scenario where ChatGPT could be evaluated like a human, its “IQ” would be challenging to determine due to the unique nature of its abilities and limitations:

Table of Contents

Strengths

ChatGPT excels in processing and generating language-based information, accessing a vast database of knowledge (up to its training cut-off ), and can quickly generate responses across a wide range of topics.

This might suggest high performance in verbal and knowledge-based components of an IQ test.

Limitations

On the other hand, ChatGPT lacks real-world experience and intuitive understanding, cannot perform tasks requiring physical interaction or sensory perception, and does not possess emotional intelligence or the ability to truly understand context in the way humans do.

These are areas where it would score very low or not at all on a traditional IQ test.

Inconsistencies

ChatGPT’s performance can be inconsistent.

It might provide impressively detailed and accurate responses in some areas while making simple mistakes or lacking depth in others.

This inconsistency is unlike human cognitive patterns.

What Would ChatGPT Score on the SAT?

Estimating what ChatGPT would score on the SAT, a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States, involves a similar set of considerations as estimating its IQ.

The SAT assesses skills in mathematics, evidence-based reading, and writing.

Here’s a speculative analysis of how ChatGPT might perform:

Evidence-Based Reading and Writing:
- Strengths: ChatGPT is adept at processing and understanding text, which would be advantageous in the reading sections. It can comprehend passages, infer meanings, and identify themes or author’s intent, which are key skills tested in this section.
- Limitations: However, ChatGPT might struggle with questions that require deep understanding of nuances or context beyond the text, or with interpreting stylistic or rhetorical elements that require a human perspective.
Mathematics:
- Strengths: ChatGPT can perform a range of mathematical calculations and understands many mathematical concepts, which would be useful in answering some of the questions.
- Limitations: The SAT math section also tests understanding of mathematical concepts in real-world contexts and problem-solving skills. ChatGPT’s ability to interpret and apply mathematical concepts to complex, real-world scenarios is limited compared to a well-prepared human student.
Essay (Optional):
- Strengths: For the essay, which involves analyzing a text, ChatGPT could potentially do well in structuring an essay, using appropriate grammar, and discussing the rhetorical elements of a given passage.
- Limitations: The depth of analysis and the ability to provide insightful, human perspectives might be limited compared to a skilled human writer.
Test-Taking Skills:
- ChatGPT doesn’t experience test anxiety or fatigue, which can be advantageous. However, it also doesn’t have test-taking strategies or the ability to intuitively guess or infer answers based on partial knowledge, which are important in a timed test environment.

What Would ChatGPT Score on the LSAT, MCAT, and GMAT?

Assessing how ChatGPT would perform on graduate-level standardized tests like the LSAT (Law School Admission Test), MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), and GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) is a speculative exercise, given that these tests are tailored to assess specific skills and knowledge relevant to their respective fields.

Here’s a hypothetical breakdown:

LSAT:
- Strengths: The LSAT focuses on reading comprehension, logical reasoning, and analytical thinking. ChatGPT is strong in processing and analyzing written information, which could be beneficial for sections like reading comprehension and analytical reasoning.
- Limitations: However, the LSAT also tests understanding of complex arguments and nuances in language, areas where ChatGPT might not perform as well as a prepared human candidate. Additionally, the LSAT’s emphasis on logical reasoning in a legal context might be challenging, as ChatGPT doesn’t have the intuitive grasp of legal reasoning and argumentation that comes from formal legal education.
MCAT:
- Strengths: The MCAT assesses knowledge in biological sciences, physical sciences, and critical analysis and reasoning skills. ChatGPT’s ability to recall and process scientific information could be advantageous in the knowledge-based sections.
- Limitations: However, the MCAT also tests application of scientific knowledge in problem-solving and understanding complex scientific concepts and research, which might be challenging for ChatGPT. Moreover, the test includes sections on psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior, which require understanding of human behavior and social contexts—areas where ChatGPT might have limitations.
GMAT:
- Strengths: For the GMAT, which is used for business school admissions, ChatGPT could perform well in the verbal and analytical writing sections, given its strengths in language processing and generation.
- Limitations: However, the quantitative section of the GMAT, which tests high-level mathematical and problem-solving skills, could be more challenging. Additionally, the integrated reasoning section requires the ability to analyze data and evaluate information from multiple sources, which might be difficult for ChatGPT.

In all these tests, the key limitations for ChatGPT would be in areas that require deep understanding of complex, context-specific information, nuanced reasoning, and problem-solving in specialized fields.

These exams are designed to assess human understanding and aptitude in specific academic or professional areas, and thus they are not ideal tools for measuring an AI’s capabilities.

While ChatGPT can handle a wide range of general knowledge questions and perform certain types of analysis, its performance on specialized graduate-level tests like the LSAT, MCAT, and GMAT would likely not be comparable to that of well-prepared human candidates.

Related: LSAT vs. GRE vs. MCAT vs. GMAT

ChatGPT and the GRE

Evaluating how ChatGPT would theoretically perform on the GRE (Graduate Record Examinations), a standardized test used for admission to many graduate schools, involves considering the test’s format and the specific skills it assesses:

Verbal Reasoning:
- Strengths: ChatGPT is adept at processing language, which would be beneficial in the text completion and sentence equivalence questions that test vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure. It could also perform reasonably well in reading comprehension questions, as it can analyze and summarize text.
- Limitations: However, nuances in complex texts, especially those requiring understanding of subtleties, author intent, or tone, could pose challenges. GRE verbal reasoning requires a deep and nuanced understanding of the English language, which might be beyond ChatGPT’s capabilities.
Quantitative Reasoning:
- Strengths: ChatGPT has a good grasp of basic math and can perform calculations, which might help in some quantitative reasoning questions.
- Limitations: The GRE’s quantitative section also tests the ability to interpret data and solve problems using mathematical concepts. ChatGPT might struggle with questions requiring complex problem-solving or the application of advanced mathematical concepts, especially those that involve interpreting real-world scenarios.
Analytical Writing:
- Strengths: In the analytical writing section, ChatGPT could potentially perform well in structuring essays and responding to prompts with coherent, grammatically correct language.
- Limitations: However, the depth and originality of analysis might be lacking. GRE analytical writing requires critical thinking and the ability to present complex ideas effectively, areas where ChatGPT’s responses might be more formulaic or superficial compared to a skilled human writer.
Test-Taking Skills:
- ChatGPT doesn’t experience test anxiety or fatigue and can process information quickly, which is advantageous. However, it lacks test-taking strategies, intuition, and the ability to make educated guesses, which are important in a timed test environment.

While ChatGPT could potentially perform competently in certain aspects of the GRE, especially those involving basic language processing and straightforward mathematical calculations, its performance would likely be inconsistent and lack the depth of understanding and nuanced reasoning that well-prepared human test-takers demonstrate.

The GRE is designed to assess a range of skills and knowledge pertinent to graduate-level studies, and applying its metrics to an AI like ChatGPT is more of an intellectual exercise than a practical assessment.

Conclusion

While it’s an interesting thought experiment, ChatGPT’s abilities and functioning are fundamentally different from human intelligence, making any direct comparison to human IQ not only challenging but not particularly meaningful in assessing the nature and capabilities of AI.