Skip to Main Content

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Information Literacy: Why AIs Are Bad at Math

Learn about how AI works and how to spot common errors AI tools tend to make. You'll also learn fact-checking and critical thinking strategies for AI, how to cite AI in an academic paper, and how to learn more in-depth about AI tools and issues.

Why AIs Are Bad at Math

Why AIs are bad at math

Why AIs Are Bad at Math

LLMs (Large Language Models) are often poor with numbers because they are primarily trained on text data, which lacks the structured understanding of mathematical operations and symbols needed to accurately solve math problems; they struggle to interpret the meaning behind mathematical notation and often rely on statistical patterns in text that may not translate to correct calculations, leading to inaccurate answers even for simple arithmetic tasks.

Using AI as a Math Study Partner

Fact-checking AI

Now that you know some common errors that AI text generators make, how do we go about fact-checking AI outputs? Go to the next page in this guide to learn about fact-checking using lateral reading.

Previous: What does AI get wrong?Next: Fact-checking with lateral reading

         

West Sound Academy Library | PO Box 807 |16571 Creative Drive NE | Poulsbo, WA 98370 | 360-598-5954 | Contact the librarian