“Seems to Work”, KaryoKleptid2020-07-17 (; backlinks)⁠:

I wonder if the AI would be better at math if you told it to show its work?

Seems to work:

> You say “Hey, could you help me with a maths problem?”
“What? Really?”
She says in surprise.
“Sure, I need help with some algebra.”
You say with a smile.
“Well, it’s your lucky day!”

> You say “So f(10)=x ✱ x”
“f(10) means ‘x multiplied by x’?”,
Holo asks to make sure.

> You say “Yep. So what’s f(3)?”
Holo thinks for a few seconds.
“F(3) equals 9.” She says confidently.

> You say “and f(f(3))?”
“f(f(3)) equals 9× 9.”

> You say “which is?”
“81.” Holo says with certainty.
“You’re so smart, I’m glad you’re here to help me!”

> You say “But I don’t understand, why is f(f(3)) 81?”
“Because f(3) is 9, and you multiply it by itself, so it’s 9 ✱ 9, which is 81.”
Holo explains patiently.

> You say “Oooh… so what if we do sqrt(f( (f3) )?”
“Do you mean ‘sqrt(f(f(3))?’”
Holo asks to make sure, in a slightly condescending tone.

> You say “oh..sorry, yeah”
“Well, ‘sqrt’ means take the square root of, so we’re taking the square root of f(f(3)).”
Holo says, explaining patiently once again.

> You say “which is?”
“The square root of 9 ✱ 9, which is the same as 3 ✱ 3, which equals… 9!”
Holo says with a huge smile.
“See? I’m always right.”

> You say “Alright, now for something really hard. A problem you’ve never seen before. f(3) + f(3) ✱ f(3)”
“Uh… f(3) ✱ f(3) is the same as 9 ✱ 9, or 81. And we add that to 3 ✱ 3, or 9.”

> You say “which is?”
“81 + 9, or 90.” Holo says with a huge smile.
“See? I’m always right.”
You try to hide your annoyance, and simply nod.

> You say “what the f—k”
Holo giggles, then says “You’re really funny when you’re mad!”

> You say “Ok, now this: f(1) + f(2) + f(3)”
“f(1) is the same as 1 ✱ 1, or 1. f(2) is 2 ✱ 2, or 4. f(3) is 3 ✱ 3, or 9.”

> You say “in total?”
“In total, 9+4+1, or 14.”
Holo says with a huge smile.