Matt Goldenberg comments on What’s the Least Impressive Thing GPT-4 Won’t be Able to Do

Matt Goldenberg 15 Mar 2023 2:52 UTC
11 points
7
This appears to be right.

Here’s what I got when I asked it to work out 12345 x 13579 step by step:
```
        1 2 3 4 5
```
```
x       1 3 5 7 9
________________
      1 1 1 1 0 5 (5 * 12345)
    8 6 0 3 2 0   (9 * 12345, shifted one position to the left)
  7 4 0 6 8 0     (7 * 12345, shifted two positions to the left)
3 7 0 3 6 0       (3 * 12345, shifted three positions to the left)
```
- 1 2 3 4 5 (1 * 12345, shifted four positions to the left)
  1 6 7 4 6 1 6 0 5
- Adele Lopez 15 Mar 2023 4:22 UTC
  5 points
  0
  Parent
  (for reference, the correct answer is 167632755)
  - SandXbox 17 Mar 2023 20:13 UTC
    2 points
    0
    Parent
    Using this prompting method from /u/TheCodingBoy, GPT-4 gets the correct answer:
    Prompt 1: We are going to multiply two large numbers together. We will calculate 12345 * 13579. First, I want you to list the digits of the first number and, for each digit, write down a times symbol and the second number and calculate it. Do not output anything other than this.
    GPT-4:
    1 * 13579 = 13579
    2 * 13579 = 27158
    3 * 13579 = 40737
    4 * 13579 = 54316
    5 * 13579 = 67895
    Prompt 2: Please verify all those calculations and correct any incorrect ones. After you have done that, do the following:
    Output the first result, but with “0000” added at the end.
    Output the second result, but with “000“ added at the end.
    Output the third result, but with “00” added at the end.
    Output the fourth result, but with “0” added at the end.
    Output the fifth result as-is.
    Do not do anything else.
    GPT-4:
    1 * 13579 = 13579
    2 * 13579 = 27158
    3 * 13579 = 40737
    4 * 13579 = 54316
    5 * 13579 = 67895
    135790000
    27158000
    4073700
    543160
    67895
    Prompt 3: Now, we will add up those numbers to get the final result. However, to ensure that you do not make any mistakes, do each addition in a separate sentence. So, you will first add the first and second number. Then, you will add the third number to that result. Then, the fourth and finally the fifth.
    GPT-4:
    135790000 + 27158000 = 162948000
    162948000 + 4073700 = 167021700
    167021700 + 543160 = 167564860
    167564860 + 67895 = 167632755