Arab woman asks ChatGPT to pick watermelon — and it goes viral for getting it right

Dubai: In a world where artificial intelligence helps write emails, diagnose rare illnesses, and even advise on romantic disputes, one Arab woman has become the talk of the town for asking a more: Which watermelon should I buy?

The woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, took a photo of several watermelons at a market and uploaded it to ChatGPT, asking the AI which one looked ripest and best.

The response was a recommendation based on color gradients, surface patterns, and positioning, backed by image analysis.

She bought the one the AI chose.

Hours later, she shared her verdict in a short social media video: “ChatGPT picked the perfect watermelon.”

The clip went viral across TikTok, Instagram, and X, racking up millions of views and sparking a wave of amused and amazed reactions.

Two decades ago, few would have imagined humans turning to machines for advice on everything from relationships to grocery shopping.

But the watermelon incident is part of a fast-growing trend in which people across the world and across cultures are finding surprising, often whimsical, uses for generative AI.

In recent months, viral stories have included a Greek woman seeking divorce after ChatGPT interpreted coffee cup residue as a sign of infidelity, a mother in India using AI to compose an angry message to her son, and a young Egyptian man using the tool to save a cousin from pesticide poisoning with first-aid instructions when hospitals initially refused admission.

There’s also the story of an American mother whose son’s rare disease was diagnosed by ChatGPT after years of inconclusive medical visits, and a man in India using the chatbot to negotiate a better fare with an auto rickshaw driver.

Even in matters of the heart, one American TikToker has turned to ChatGPT to crowdsource a path to love, treating it as a virtual dating coach.

-- Huda Ata is an independent writer based in the UAE