When a model gives you the right answer to a reasoning question,...
François Chollet@fchollet
104 views
Aug 27, 2025
~1 min read
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1
When a model gives you the right answer to a reasoning question, you can't tell whether it was via memorization or via reasoning.
A simple way to tell between the two is to tweak your question in a way that 1. changes the answer, 2. requires some reasoning to adapt to the change. If you still get the same answer as before... it was memorization.
A simple way to tell between the two is to tweak your question in a way that 1. changes the answer, 2. requires some reasoning to adapt to the change. If you still get the same answer as before... it was memorization.
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Many people think "reasoning" is a category of tasks -- e.g. involving numbers, riddles, etc. It's not. It's an ability, underpinned by compositional generalization.
You can always solve "reasoning" tasks without reasoning. Just memorize -- either memorize the answer or memorize the general question/answer template.
You can always solve "reasoning" tasks without reasoning. Just memorize -- either memorize the answer or memorize the general question/answer template.
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Arguably, you could say that having memorized the template (a program to generate the solution) and being able to reapply it in a new context *is* a form of reasoning. I basically agree. But it's only a weak form of adaptation to novelty (known unknowns).