Beyond Simple Math, AI Hits a Wall—FrontierMath Shows Where It’s Stuck

A new benchmark called FrontierMath is exposing how artificial intelligence still has a long way to go when it comes to mathematical reasoning. There is no doubt that AI can generate good texts, research about basic topics and solve math equations but advanced math problems are something AIs are struggling at. FrontierMath is developed by a group called EpochAI which is a collection of thousands of math problems which are based on logical and creative reasoning. Advanced AI models like Gemini 1.5 Pro and GPT-4o are also struggling to solve the math equations by FrontierMath.


Most of the AI models are trained on specific data so they only have a capability to perform tasks which are similar to it. Most AI models are trained on benchmarks like MATH and GSM-8K but these benchmarks do not have math problems that can challenge the capabilities of AI. FrontierMath has math problems which are far from traditional math, and cannot be solved with memorization or pattern recognition. All math problems, from computational number theory to abstract algebraic geometry, are a part of this benchmark.

Mathematical reasoning needs “deep domain expertise” and creative skills, which is extremely challenging to solve even for a human. You need to be expert in your field, as well as pair up with modern AI and algebraic packages to solve those questions.

Math requires logical reasoning and many steps. Math can help in evaluating the complex reasoning of AI models. This is because there is no ambiguity in the answer of a math problem. Either the answer is correct or it is incorrect, there is no in between. This makes it perfect to test if an AI model is good at logical and critical reasoning.

Many of the experts have recognized the complexity of math problems in FrontierMath. Most of its problems are not only hard, but do not have any shortcuts too. This makes AI incapable of solving problems in a simple and concise manner. It is a great way to see what AI models are lacking and what needs to be improved in them. Overall, FrontierMath is a good way to see the limitations in AI models.

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