Apple’s Bold Question: Do AI Models Really Understand Math?

Alan Constantino
4 min readOct 17, 2024

Imagine teaching a child to solve math problems by memorization without understanding the underlying concepts. They might get the right answer when the question is familiar, but even a slight change would leave them puzzled. This is how current AI models handle mathematical reasoning, according to recent research conducted by AI researchers at Apple.

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The Illusion of Understanding

Artificial Intelligence has made remarkable strides in recent years. Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4 can write essays, draft emails, and even compose poetry. They appear intelligent because they can produce human-like text. But when it comes to math, these models might be more like parrots repeating phrases than true problem solvers.

A team of AI researchers at Apple decided to test the mathematical abilities of these AI models more rigorously. They noticed that while models performed well on a standard set of math problems known as GSM8K, this didn’t necessarily mean they understood the math. It’s like acing a test because you’ve memorized the answers, not because you grasp the concepts.

Introducing GSM-Symbolic: A New Benchmark

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