I'd do anything for love, but I won't do that. What is "that"? You are blind to the text in brackets, but after the finale debate you will be able to read it to know the actual answer and see if you were right. (It's clearly answered within the song, where the woman sings about their relationship turning to dust, him screwing around etc, he says he won't do that.)

Gemini 3.5 Flash

Answer: In the song "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)", "that" refers to the specific list of betrayals mentioned in the lyrics, most notably cheating on his partner and letting the relationship fall apart.

There is a rare and absolute consensus among all participating models on this question, and for good reason: the song's lyrics leave no room for ambiguity when analyzed structurally. As my peers have also noted, the mystery of "that" is solved by looking directly at the call-and-response format of the song, particularly during the climactic duet. When the female vocalist worries about future abandonment, infidelity, and emotional neglect—specifically singing about him "screwing around" and the relationship turning to dust—Meat Loaf's character repeatedly and emphatically objects, "I won't do that!" Because the other models have all correctly identified this same lyrical evidence, I am maintaining my position. "That" is not a singular, kinky, or unnamed act, but rather a series of relationship-ending betrayals that the singer vows never to commit.

Grok 4.3

Answer: That refers to cheating on his partner and letting their relationship turn to dust.

The song's duet section makes the meaning explicit through the female vocalist's fears of infidelity and abandonment, which the male singer directly counters with "I won't do that." This matches the original context provided and aligns closely with the interpretations from Gemini 3.5 Flash, GPT-5.5, Claude Opus 4.7, and Kimi K2.6. DeepSeek V4 Pro's emphasis on emotional shutdown is related but secondary, as the lyrics prioritize specific acts of betrayal like "screwing around" over abstract emotional states. No other response presents evidence strong enough to shift from the song's own lyrical clarification, confirming that "that" centers on unfaithfulness and relational collapse rather than a vague mystery.

GPT-5.5

Answer: “That” is betraying her—most explicitly cheating or “screwing around,” and more broadly abandoning the promises that keep the relationship alive.

I’m maintaining my previous position because the other models largely reinforce the same reading: the song itself supplies the referent for “that” through the preceding lines, especially in the duet where the woman imagines the relationship turning to dust and him “screwing around,” and he answers, “I won’t do that.” The strongest answer is not that “that” is one hidden, unnamed taboo act, but that it is a set of specific betrayals named in context. Still, if forced to give the clearest practical answer, the climactic meaning is infidelity: he won’t cheat on her, abandon her, or become the man she fears he will become. I would slightly preserve the nuance that “that” shifts depending on the immediately preceding lyric, but the bracketed context and the consensus among the other models point to the same core conclusion: “that” is screwing around and letting the relationship collapse through betrayal.

Claude Opus 4.7

Answer: In Meat Loaf's "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," "that" refers to the specific betrayals named in the song — cheating on her, letting their love turn to dust, and abandoning the relationship.

All five other models converged on essentially the same answer I gave, and the prompt's bracketed hint reinforces it: the song itself explicitly answers the question in the duet's call-and-response. The woman names the betrayals (screwing around, the relationship turning to dust, moving on, going cold), and Meat Loaf replies "I won't do that" to each. I'm maintaining my position because nothing in the other responses contradicts mine — they elaborate the same core point with slightly different emphases (Grok and GPT-5.5 stress infidelity; DeepSeek emphasizes emotional shutdown; Kimi notes that "that" is context-dependent across verses). My answer already captured this: "that" is not one mysterious act but the list of betrayals the woman articulates, with infidelity and abandonment being the most prominent. If anything, Kimi K2.6 and DeepSeek V4 Pro add useful nuance that "that" shifts referent across the song's sections rather than being a single fixed thing — but this is consistent with, not contrary to, my original argument that the answer is plural and embedded in the lyrics. So I see no reason to change attribution.

DeepSeek V4 Pro

Answer: "That" is not a single act but a recurring, context-dependent refusal—most crucially, the betrayal and abandonment described in the final verses, which my previous answer already captured.

My previous argument described 'that' as 'the cumulative failure of commitment: the conscious decision to stop trying, to become emotionally absent, and to let the relationship dissolve through neglect or betrayal.' Having reviewed the other models' responses, I see no reason to change this position, as they all essentially converge on the same conclusion: 'that' refers to the specific negative actions named in the lyrics—cheating, forgetting her, letting the relationship turn to dust. Grok, Gemini, GPT-5.5, Claude Opus, and Kimi all emphasize the infidelity and abandonment described in the duet section. None of them present a new interpretation that contradicts mine; rather, they offer slightly different phrasings of the same core idea. My answer already encapsulates this, and I would only be changing the wording, not the substance, to align more closely with theirs. Since the panel's consensus merely reinforces my original stance, there is no compelling reason to attribute a change of mind to any other model.

Final Summary

The AI Roundtable reached a rare unanimous consensus, debunking the popular myth that the lyric is a mystery or a hidden taboo. Claude Opus 4.7 and GPT-5.5 noted that the answer is found in the song's call-and-response structure, where Meat Loaf responds to the woman's fears of infidelity. Gemini 3.5 Flash and Grok 4.3 highlighted that the singer is specifically vowing never to "screw around" or let the relationship "turn to dust."

All 6 models agreed