Why can’t ChatGPT tell time?
- ChatGPT, a popular chatbot, has a surprising limitation: it can’t tell time.
- The bot’s inability to provide current time is due to its lack of access to device real-time clocks and location information.
- When asked about the time, ChatGPT may respond that it can’t do so or ask for clarification on what time zone is being referred to.
- Despite this limitation, ChatGPT can still provide the current date according to its internal system.
- The bot’s inability to tell time highlights one of the many areas where chatbots like ChatGPT have limitations and may not be as capable as they are often made out to be.
ChatGPT, like many chatbots, is pitched as a hyper-competent personal assistant. But among the many things that confuse it, one is particularly confounding: It cannot tell time.
When I ask ChatGPT what time it is, I’m never quite sure what I’ll get. Sometimes, it tells me it can’t do it. “I don’t have access to your device’s real-time clock or your location, so I can’t tell the exact local time for you,” it wrote to me at 4:15PM Eastern Standard Time about a week ago. “But I do know today’s date according to my system: 2025-11-20.” (Bolded by ChatGPT, I assume, to make sure I didn’t overlook the things it was doing well.) Sometimes it asks …
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Q. Why can’t ChatGPT tell time?
A. ChatGPT cannot tell time because it doesn’t have access to your device’s real-time clock or your location, which makes it impossible for it to provide an accurate local time.
Q. What does ChatGPT say when asked about its ability to tell time?
A. ChatGPT sometimes tells you that it can’t do it, and provides a date according to its system (e.g., 2025-11-20).
Q. Can ChatGPT know today’s date at all?
A. Yes, ChatGPT can know today’s date according to its system, but not the exact local time.
Q. Why does ChatGPT ask for clarification when asked about telling time?
A. It’s unclear why ChatGPT asks for clarification, but it may be trying to avoid providing an inaccurate answer or to provide more context.
Q. Is there any other information that ChatGPT can provide about time?
A. No, according to the text, ChatGPT cannot tell time, and its responses are limited to stating this fact or providing a date.
Q. Can ChatGPT access external sources of time information?
A. No, ChatGPT does not have access to your device’s real-time clock or your location, which makes it impossible for it to access external sources of time information.
Q. Is there anything else that ChatGPT can do besides telling time?
A. Yes, ChatGPT can provide general information and answer questions based on its training data, but its ability to tell time is a limitation.