Member-only story
Apples research on why AI can’t code
Understanding the Limitations of Large Language Models in Mathematics
Introduction
I have been reading this research paper this week and wanted to share my findings about how Apple’s research team has systematically proved about LLM’s.
In this article, we’ll see why LLMs struggle with mathematical reasoning, explore the limitations inherent in their design.
The Challenge of Mathematical Reasoning
Mathematical problems often require a multi-step process to solve. For instance, consider the following problem:
Example Problem:
Emily has twice as many apples as Daniel. Daniel has 5 apples. How many apples does Emily have?
A human would solve this by recognizing that “twice as many” means multiplication:
- Identify Daniel’s number of apples: 5.
- Multiply by 2 to find Emily’s apples: 5×2=105 \times 2 = 105×2=10.
- Conclusion: Emily has 10 apples.
An LLM might struggle with this problem, not because it can’t perform multiplication, but because it doesn’t inherently understand the logical steps required to reach the solution.
