By: Emily Ao

Artificial intelligence, more commonly known as A.I., has been rapidly evolving for years. With new programs like Open AI’s ChatGPT, which can summarize novels to a human extent, AI can think and act like we do, but there is one thing. How is it possible that artificial intelligence can write ornate novels but trip up at the sight of mathematics?

According to the New York Times article, “A.I. Can Write Poetry, but It Struggles With Math,” A.I essentially makes errors when faced with math because it was never programmed to compute things. Instead, A.I. was made to do more literary things, hence its ability to generate text quickly. Also, literature and words are more flexibly used, whereas math usually only has a few solid answers.

American math learning program Khan Academy reached out about their struggles with programming their A.I. math tutor. Apparently, Khanamigo, their chatbot, struggles to come up with answers when faced with complex math problems. To solve this, Khan Academy has resorted to directing Khanamigo to find answers using calculators instead of solving problems itself. This way, students are able to get quick and accurate explanations.

In recent years, A.I. has become more and more efficient. A new type of A.I., called a neural network, was created. This time, it was roughly modeled after a human brain. For example, instead of relying on solid instructions and guidelines, it’s programmed to absorb information and analyze. This type of A.I. can also predict words as you type, much like how humans think.

With the quick development of artificial intelligence, the future is unpredictable for us. Some say that A.I. will have the power to take control over us one day, but who knows?