First the facts.
I photographed these boys in October 2018 as they were crossing the road behind the Cambridge colleges. I assumed they were from a private school in Cambridge. I posted some photos then under the title Cambridge Today.
Even though it was seven years ago I remember taking the photos and I remember that it was the uniforms that grabbed me, that and the expressions on the boys faces, each one different.
Now fast forward to yesterday when I scanned an old hard drive and found the photos I had taken that day.
And I wondered what uniform the boys were wearing.
I showed the photo to Google Gemini and asked it to identify the uniforms.
It said the photo was taken in London and they were boys from Harrow school.
I said it should reconsider because it was I who had taken the photo so I knew it was in Cambridge.
Gemini disputed that I had really taken the photo in Cambridge and insisted that it showed boys from Harrow school.
I mean, seriously, an AI helper querying whether a real, live person knew where they had taken a photograph when they explicitly said so. Harumph!
This is the first time I have felt any opposition from AI in a search query and my mind turned to thoughts of humans versus artificial intelligence, Terminator, and other dystopian futures.
I turned to the more friendly helper that is ChatGPT and asked it to identify the school uniforms.
ChatGPT said the boys in the photo
“..are wearing formal academic dress characteristic of Eton College and that although the photo was taken in Cambridge, it’s likely they were visiting or taking part in an event rather than being local Cambridge schoolboys, since no Cambridge school uses that particular Eton uniform.”
It went on to describe how the attire includes a black tailcoat, waistcoat, pinstripe trousers, stiff white collar, and top hat — part of Eton’s traditional school uniform known as “Eton dress.
See how convivial and inventive it is of ChatGPT to find a way to agree where the photo was taken and yet identify the uniforms as being from a school in London.
A little more digging and I found out that Harrow boys wear straw hats known as “boaters,” dark blue tailcoats, and striped trousers.
So not Harrow.
And then a little more digging and I found out that
“The Eton College uniform is famous and instantly recognisable as an indicator of the school’s status. Most recognisable is the black tailcoat, or morning coat, which is worn over the top of a black waistcoat and pinstriped trousers. There is also a distinctive white neck tie.”
And
“The standard Eton College uniform, known as school dress, includes black pinstriped trousers, a white collarless shirt with a detachable stiff collar, a black waistcoat, a black tailcoat, and the Eton tie (a narrow white cloth strip).”
So not Eton either. and so both Google Gemini and ChatGPT are both wrong.
So what and where?
Ask A Friend
I asked a friend who is an alumni of Cambridge University. He says the uniform fits the description of King’s College Choirboys, and that more specifically, that ones with top hats are fully qualified Choristers and ones without are as yet Probationers.
And – a boy’s uniform as a whole is referred to as his ‘Etons’.
A quick look at the Kings College site confirms it. Investigation completed and nil points to Gemini and ChatGPT. and full points to ask a friend.
Technical Info
Nikon D5600 with 18.0-55.0 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. I remember I only had the camera a short while because the focus point was hard to see. I remember I took it to Budapest, as in this photo.
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