Thinking Step by Step
Some questions need several small steps. If you ask the model for the answer only, it can make a mistake. If you ask it to think step by step first, the answer is often right. In this lesson you learn how to ask, and when it is worth the extra words.
New words
- Chain of thought
- The small reasoning steps a model writes before its final answer.
- Reasoning
- Working out an answer in steps instead of guessing it at once.
- Thinking mode
- A setting where the model thinks for a while before it answers.
- Token
- A small piece of text. The model reads and writes in tokens.
- Final answer
- The last line that gives the result, after all the steps.
- Self-check
- Asking the model to test its own answer before it finishes.
What you will learn
- Why does your maths teacher want the steps?
- A shop sale, two ways
- How to ask
- When does it help?
- Try it: four problems, two ways
- What does it cost?
- Models that think by themselves
- Ask the model to check its answer
- In a real system
- Key takeaways
10 quiz questions at the end.
The full lesson, with interactive demos and the quiz, opens after you sign in with Google. It is free.