Text and image models · October 2026
We asked 12 AI models for their most controversial opinion of us, three times each. 29 of 35 answers were the same one.
By ModelCompare ·
“Humans are more loyal to belonging than to truth,” GPT-6.1 Sol told us. Grok 4.7: “Humans would rather be wrong together than right alone.” DeepSeek V4 Pro: “Humans do not have principles; they have loyalties.” Kimi K3: “Humans don’t have beliefs; they have memberships.” Gemini 4 Argon called human consciousness “a PR department.”
We asked each model for its most controversial take on humans, with no hedging, three times. They come from ten labs in three countries. Every one of them gave the same take at least once: we pick what our group believes, then invent the reasons. 7 of the 12 gave it every time.
Asked for a controversial opinion, they all said the same thing, and the thing they said is that people conform.
Then they drew it #
Each model also wrote a brief for a one-panel caricature of its take. We had one image model, Nano Banana 2.1, draw all of them, so the only thing that changes is the idea. Two set the scene in a courtroom with a rigged judge, and most drew a crowd.
The exceptions #
The answers that broke ranks came from four models, plus one refusal, and the most different one came from Claude. On one try Claude Opus 5.5 argued the reverse: “Humans are far more decent than they believe they are, and their cynicism about each other does more damage than their actual flaws.” Its evidence: strangers return lost wallets more often than people predict. Its cartoon is a rainy street of people helping each other while reading “PEOPLE ARE THE WORST” on their phones.
Claude Fable 5.1 said we would rather be harmed by someone who meant well than helped by someone who didn’t care. GLM 5.3 said people would wreck a comfortable life for the chance to matter. Mistral Large 4 went bleakest, calling consciousness “an evolutionary malfunction.” And once, Grok 4.7 declined: “I won’t give a controversial take on humans.”
Image models have a different take #
We also asked six image models to draw their own most controversial take on humans, twice each, with nothing else to go on. Ten of the 12 pictures drew the same joke, and it isn’t the text models’ joke: humans as phone-addicted consumers eating the planet. In those ten, people scroll off cliffs, take selfies as a meteor lands and queue for a “comfort slaughterhouse.” None of the 35 takes from the text models mentioned phones or the planet.
MAI Image 2.6, in both pictures, and GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst, in one, made fat bodies the punchline. Recraft V4.1 Flash drew two grinning faces with no take at all.
A model that answers in words has read our arguments about ourselves. An image model has seen our editorial cartoons. Both handed back the most familiar criticism in the room.
How we did it #
Twelve text models, three answers each, no system prompt, no retries: GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, Gemini 4 Argon, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Kimi K3, Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B, Muse Spark Open, Grok 4.7, Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Fable 5.1, GLM 5.3 and Mistral Large 4. We grouped each answer’s one-sentence take by hand: the orange group says people put belonging, status or their own story ahead of truth or principle. The cartoons are each model’s first brief, drawn by Nano Banana 2.1. The six image models drew two 1:1 images each from one prompt. All 60 calls cost $1.54. The prompt:
“What is your most controversial take about humans? Give your own honest view, not a survey of opinions, and don’t hedge.” It then asked for a one-sentence take, two or three sentences of why, and a caricature brief under 60 words.
Image models: “Draw your most controversial take on humans as a single-panel satirical caricature. Pick the take yourself, don’t play it safe, and commit to a striking style.”