AI settles scone debate on whether jam or cream comes first – with controversial answer

Artificial Intelligence has officially given its verdict on the age-old debate of whether jam or cream comes first on a scone – but not everyone will like the answer

It’s a hot topic that has been the subject of many a heated debate up and down the country for centuries – do you put the cream on your scone before the jam, or the jam first and then the cream?

As it seems we humans are unable to come to an agreement ourselves, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has stepped in to do it for us, giving technology’s answer to the question that has caused so many of us to fall out with loved ones over how they choose to eat the tasty teatime treat.

Cornwall Live decided to get an AI chatbot to settle the debate as part of a series of tricky questions they posed to the sophisticated bots, which simulate human intelligence to come up with unique answers to just about any question you can think of – making it seem as though you’re talking to a real person.

When asked what should go first on a scone, the AI first acknowledged that people have mixed opinions on the matter, before giving a definitive answer that will make some furious – cream should go first, with jam on top.

The AI chatbot even gave a reasoning for their answer, claiming that the cream acts as a “glue” to hold the jam in place, as well as keeping the scone “moist”.

It said: “There is a debate about the proper way to serve a Cornish cream tea, with some people preferring to spread the jam on the scone first and then top it with cream, while others prefer to do it the other way around.

“The traditional method is to spread the cream on the scone first and then top it with the jam. The cream is said to act as a ‘glue’ to hold the jam in place, and it also helps to keep the scone moist.

“However, it ultimately comes down to personal preference, so you can serve a cream tea however you like!”

Cornwall Live spoke to a bot at chat.openai.com to come up with the answer to one of life’s most difficult questions, and the website states that the bots are powered by “advanced natural language processing (NLP) algorithms” that help them understand “a wide range of inputs”.

They said: “Users can ask the chatbots questions or make statements, and the chatbots will provide helpful and relevant responses.”

The debate about what comes first on a scone is a long-standing point of contention that is common between people from Devon and Cornwall, as each of the counties has their own way of doing things.

In Devon, it’s customary to put the cream on first and then the jam, while people from Cornwall will tell you that’s strictly taboo, and that the jam should always go before the cream.

And that’s not the only debate that surrounds the humble cream tea, as many of us will have had arguments with friends before about how the word ‘scone’ should even be pronounced – with some rhyming it with ‘gone’, and others with ‘cone’.

Recently, an expert on afternoon teas attempted to settle the pronunciation debate, after she claimed that while she thinks it should rhyme with ‘cone’, the late Queen Elizabeth always said it as ‘scon’.

Jane Malyon revealed: “My world is spent answering ‘scone’ vs ‘scon’. I say it like ‘cone’ personally but Her Majesty did always say ‘scon’.

“I think more people say ‘scone’ but the ones who say ‘scon’ swear they’re the only ones that say it right. Posh people definitely say ‘scon’ – but ultimately both are valid.”

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