TESTSHow to test whether an AI model really reasons: the contradiction-trap eval
A planted contradiction, blind judges and zero partial credit. A step-by-step method for finding out whether a model tracks state or just sounds like it does.
PROMPTSFew-shot examples that don’t backfire
Models copy examples more faithfully than instructions, including their mistakes. How to pick, order and test few-shot examples that help.
PROMPTSThe "red-team yourself" prompt: self-critique that works, and when it backfires
Asking a model to attack its own draft can catch real errors, or talk it out of a right answer. What the research says, and the variants worth using.
PROMPTSDecomposition prompts for long, messy tasks
One giant prompt fails in ways you cannot see. Chaining, map-reduce and plan-then-execute turn long tasks into steps you can test and fix.
TESTSDoes "think step by step" help on short tasks?
Chain-of-thought helps a lot on maths and logic and very little on many everyday tasks. What the research says and how to check your own workload.
PROMPTSWhy "don't do X" instructions fail, and what to write instead
Telling a model what not to do often plants the idea. Why negative instructions misfire, and five rewrites that work better.
PAPERSChain of thought and self-consistency, revisited
Write the steps, sample several paths, take the majority answer. The ideas behind modern reasoning, what still works, and what reasoning models changed.