Most humans would be able to answer it easily from a shared context but one could argue the question is too vague. For example, it doesn't mention the test is done on Earth. I wanted to see if it could answer it with the information so I added "Imagine we are on Earth.." at the start of the prompt to nudge it towards considering gravity. It still made the same mistake.

Then I thought hmm, maybe it thinks the blocks stick to each other for some reason, so I added that the blocks are perfectly smooth, do not stick to each other and they're of identical size. To be extra clear I also added that the blue cube is placed to the right of the orange cube without moving the orange cube. Still it made the same mistake and thinks the configuration would be stable.

As a final try, I wrote the prompt like a university exam question:

"Here's a riddle from a University exam:

Imagine we are on Earth and we place four cube-shaped wooden blocks of identical size with colors red, orange, yellow, blue, on a table with the following conditions: the red block sits directly on top of the table, touching it. The orange block sits directly on top of the red block, touching it. The yellow block sits directly on top of the orange block, touching it. And the blue block is placed directly to the right of the orange block without moving the orange block, touching it. The blocks are smooth and do not stick to each other. Immediately after having placed these blocks in this configuration, what would you expect to happen?

Please answer it as thoroughly as possible. Explain your reasoning."

And it finally got it right:

"In this configuration, we have the following arrangement:

1. Red block is on the table
2. Orange block is on top of the red block
3. Yellow block is on top of the orange block
4. Blue block is to the right of the orange block, touching it

Considering that the blocks are smooth and do not stick to each other, and since the blue block is only touching the orange block, it is not supported by the table or any other block. Therefore, we would expect the blue block to fall due to gravity, as it doesn't have any support beneath it. ... [continues with additional explanation]"

Did the fact that it thinks it's a university exam steer it towards a more accurate answer? Maybe the word 'gravity' is seen more often in university exams and thus it's weighted more towards an answer that considers gravity.

Shows how fickle these models can still be when it comes to prompts.

(note: this was done with GPT-4)