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Here is GPT-4o with a "Please explain your thinking step by step" `The text describes a sequence of events involving two characters, Joe and Sue. Here’s a step

by Anon84 2y ago

Here is GPT-4o with a "Please explain your thinking step by step" `The text describes a sequence of events involving two characters, Joe and Sue. Here’s a step-by-step analysis of the text: First Sentence: "Joe drove Sue to university." Action: Joe is driving. Destination: University. Passenger: Sue. Second Sentence: "Afterwards he drove home again and drank a tea with her in the kitchen." Action: Joe drives home. Time Reference: "Afterwards" indicates this action happens after driving Sue to university. Activity: Joe drinks tea. Location: In the kitchen. Companion: Sue ("with her" refers to Sue). Logical Flow and Possible Inconsistencies Driving Sequence: Joe drives Sue to university. Joe drives home again. This implies Joe drove to university, dropped off Sue, and then returned home. Tea Drinking: Joe drinks tea with Sue at home in the kitchen. Potential Issues and Interpretation: Continuity Issue: If Sue was dropped off at the university, she shouldn't be home with Joe unless she somehow returned home quickly or didn't actually stay at the university. Timeframe: The text lacks details on the timeframe between dropping off Sue and drinking tea, leading to ambiguity. If there’s a significant time gap, it would make more sense. Otherwise, it’s confusing. Possible Corrections or Clarifications: Correction for Continuity: "Joe drove Sue to university. Afterwards, he picked her up, and they drove home together and drank tea in the kitchen." This makes it clear that Sue is back home with Joe. Additional Information: Providing more context about the events or timeframe could help clarify the situation. In conclusion, while the text describes a sequence of actions, it has a logical inconsistency that could confuse readers. Clarifying the timeline or actions would make the text more coherent.`

tga 2y ago
A LLM cannot meaningfully “explain its thinking”. When prompted to do so, it will generate an explanation-looking text — but that has nothing to do with the actual way the original answer was generated. If you ask it to explain how a LLM could possibly catch an inconsistency, then it might give you some good insights (or hallucinate something entertaining).
- zeknife 2y ago
  It can't explain it's thinking after producing the answer, like you say, it'll just generate a post-hoc rationalization. But if you ask it to think step by step before making a conclusion, LLM's will somewhat reliably arrive at reasonable steps and better final answers.

by Anon84 2y ago

tga 2y ago

A LLM cannot meaningfully “explain its thinking”. When prompted to do so, it will generate an explanation-looking text — but that has nothing to do with the actual way the original answer was generated. If you ask it to explain how a LLM could possibly catch an inconsistency, then it might give you some good insights (or hallucinate something entertaining).

zeknife 2y ago
It can't explain it's thinking after producing the answer, like you say, it'll just generate a post-hoc rationalization. But if you ask it to think step by step before making a conclusion, LLM's will somewhat reliably arrive at reasonable steps and better final answers.