Author: Gary Smith

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Gary Smith
Date
October 30, 2025

Categorized
Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
ChatGPT-5, Featured, Scaling as concept}

Scaling Up is Not Going to Make Large Language Models Intelligent

_{ChatGPT-5 misunderstood the jab in a simple Will Rogers joke five out of six times} _{Gary Smith
October 30, 2025

7

Large Language Models (LLMs)}

Bigger data centers are not going to change the harsh reality that LLMs are prone to generating unreliable blather. Read More ›

Chat GPT Artificial Intelligence copy writing bot by Open AI. Robot for student homework, education.

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Gary Smith
Date
October 28, 2025

Categorized
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Autocomplete, Copilot, DeepSeek, Featured, Gemini 2.5, GPT-5, Sonnet 4.5}

Large Language Models: Inconsistent Because They’re Unintelligent

_{Here’s what happened when I tested popular LLMs on student exercise questions I have been using for over fifty years} _{Gary Smith
October 28, 2025

10

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Large Language Models (LLMs)}

Claims that an LLM is intelligent don’t square with the fact that it may answer a question one way and, a few seconds later, simply contradict itself. Read More ›

60 40 Strategy Money Savings Investment Mix Ratio Stocks Bonds 3d Illustration

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Gary Smith
Date
October 20, 2025

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
60/40 investment rule, Charlie Wells, Chris Fasciano, Featured, GPT-5 on investment strategy, Randy Cohen, Stocks vs. bonds, Vanguard, Warren Buffett}

For a Sounder Approach to Investment: Deep-Six the 60/40 Rule

_{Sometimes, good decisions require more than blindly accepting advice from humans as well as computers!} _{Gary Smith
October 20, 2025

7

Business and Finance}

The conventional belief that a sound investment portfolio should be 60% stocks and 40% bonds does not stand up to careful scrutiny. Read More ›

Data-driven AI and analytics concept with neural networks, machine learning, and big data stream. Illustrate data flow technology and science for predictive systems, ideal for innovation and business.

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post

Gary Smith
Date
October 7, 2025

Categorized
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
AI Delusion (book 2018), GPT-5, Intelligence and LLMs, Sonnet 4.5}

Intelligence Demands More than Pressing a Lever to Obtain Water

_{I continue to be astonished by how willing people are to assume that LLMs are intelligent because they give glib, confident answers} _{Gary Smith
October 7, 2025

6

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Large Language Models (LLMs)}

Human trainers can nudge LLMs to give good answers for specific questions but this training doesn’t prepare them for subtle variations. Read More ›

girl riding a bike and looks at her smartphone, danger

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post

Gary Smith
Date
October 6, 2025

Categorized
Addiction, Social Media

Tagged
addiction, dopamine, Empathy, Evolutionary psychology, Featured, greed, mental health, opinion piece, Regulation, social media}

Glued to Our Phones. Our Troubling Addiction to Social Media

_{It's disconcerting to see people out for a nature walk — completely absorbed in the traffic on their phones} _{Gary Smith
October 6, 2025

5

Addiction, Social Media}

Social media addictions clearly cause harm among minors but the tech giants who profit by them won’t regulate themselves in any meaningful way. Read More ›

Bearded businessman in a suit looking surprised

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post

Gary Smith
Date
September 16, 2025

Categorized
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Brock Intelligence concept, Featured, GPT-5, Sam Altman on AGI, Sam Altman on GPT-5}

A Realistic Direction for Artificial General Intelligence Today

_{Based on GPT5's performance to date, it would make a superb substitute for a mansplainer I know of — call him Brock} _{Gary Smith
September 16, 2025

6

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

The fundamental problem remains; models like GPT-5 are hobbled by their inherent inability to relate the text they input and output to the real world. Read More ›

A cute vintage robot holding a bouquet of flowers. steampunk illustration. illustration. Vintage Robot. Illustration

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post

Gary Smith
Date
September 3, 2025

Categorized
Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
ChatGPT, Featured, Illustration, Sam Altman}

GPT 5.0 Doesn’t Understand But Is Eager to Please

_{Over a number of tries, it couldn’t get the labels on an illustration right because it does not understand what the words mean and how they relate to the image} _{Gary Smith
September 3, 2025

7

Large Language Models (LLMs)}

The test also shows GPT 5.0’s inclination to praise a user’s acuity, whether the user’s comment is correct or incorrect, intelligent of dumb. Read More ›

Ai chatbot with educational icons connected to a person using a laptop

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post

Gary Smith
Date
August 25, 2025

Categorized
Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
ChatGPT 5.0, Featured, GPT 5.0, Sam Altman}

What Kind of a “PhD-level Expert” Is ChatGPT 5.0? I Tested It.

_{The responses to my three prompts made clear that GPT 5.0, far from being the expert that CEO Sam Altman claims, can’t address the meanings of words or concepts} _{Gary Smith
August 25, 2025

5

Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

In an era where politicians, celebrities, and businesses can get away with blatant untruths with little or no consequence, will the same be true of LLMs? Read More ›

Table games of chance, including tic tac toe, are set up in large size to entertain the party guests

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post

Gary Smith
Date
August 22, 2025

Categorized
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs), Work

Tagged
ChatGPT-5, GPT 5.0, Rotated Tic-Tac-Toe Test, Sam Altman and AGI}

ChatGPT-5 Tries Out “Rotated” Tic-Tac-Toe. You Be the Judge…

_{They say that dogs tend to resemble their owners. Chat GPT very much resembles Sam Altman — always confident, often wrong} _{Gary Smith
August 22, 2025

7

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs), Work}

It’s no mystery why LLMs aren’t intelligent in any meaningful way. The real mystery is why so many otherwise intelligent people still take the claims seriously. Read More ›

Android robot navigating through a cyber digital world, pointing its finger towards a glowing computer coding interface.luminous glow of digital technology, an android engages in the art of computer.

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post

Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
Date
August 4, 2025

Categorized
Large Language Models (LLMs), Work

Tagged
AI predictions, Featured, LLM vs. human brain, LLMs replacing coders, Messiness score, Model Evaluation & Threat Research (METR)}

AI Is a Long Way From Replacing Software Coders

_{Despite C-suite claims, they are not likely to take our jobs any time soon because they do not understand what words mean and how words relate to the physical world} _{Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
August 4, 2025

7

Large Language Models (LLMs), Work}

LLMs excel at simple coding tasks but are still too unreliable to use without extensive human supervision on complex tasks where mistakes are expensive. Read More ›

Aerial panoramic view of downtown Mountain View, California, along Castro Street, looking toward San Francisco Bay

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post

Gary Smith
Date
July 22, 2025

Categorized
Large Language Models (LLMs), Science

Tagged
Jeff Hammerbacher, LLMs and social inequality, LLMs in education, Sci Foo unconference}

Sci Foo Unconference: Horseshoe Crabs, Alchemy and (Of Course) AI

_{It’s called an “unconference” because attendees do not present papers in pre-organized sessions; they propose topics at the venue and those with most interest are selected} _{Gary Smith
July 22, 2025

7

Large Language Models (LLMs), Science}

Many Sci Foo attendees were excited by LLMs in education but I fear that — when the way they are used is considered — they will increase social inequality. Read More ›

Man and AI robot waiting for a job interview: AI vs human competition

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Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
Date
July 1, 2025

Categorized
Economics, Education, Large Language Models (LLMs), Work

Tagged
Andy Jassey, Featured, Gen-Z job seekers, Geoffrey Hinton, Job market, University and job market}

The Job Market is Telling Us Something About AI and Jobs…

_{But it’s not telling us the same things as the AI hypesters are telling us} _{Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
July 1, 2025

5

Economics, Education, Large Language Models (LLMs), Work}

The job market for recent college grads may be warning us that participation trophies for college and ChatGPT use have long-run costs. Read More ›

Transform photo stock management with AI reasoning models that enhance image perception and optimize digital asset organization.

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post

Gary Smith
Date
June 13, 2025

Categorized
Large Language Models (LLMs), Large Reasoning Models (LRMs)

Tagged
Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) tested, River-crossing puzzle, Tower of Hanoi puzzle}

No, Large Reasoning Models Do Not Reason

_{Large reasoning models continue the Large Language Model detour away from artificial general intelligence} _{Gary Smith
June 13, 2025

9

Large Language Models (LLMs), Large Reasoning Models (LRMs)}

It is increasingly recognized that, without extensive post-training, their authoritative answers are often remarkably bad. Read More ›

Group of youth absorbed in smartphone screens

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post

Gary Smith
Date
May 28, 2025

Categorized
Addiction, Education, Large Language Models (LLMs), Relationships

Tagged
AI friends, Elon Musk, Featured, Jeff Hammerbacher, Sam Altman, Smartphone addiction}

LLMs Are Bad at Good Things, Good at Bad Things

_{LLMs may well become smarter than humans in the near future but not because these chatbots are becoming more intelligent} _{Gary Smith
May 28, 2025

5

Addiction, Education, Large Language Models (LLMs), Relationships}

As people become attached to and dependent on their AI friends, they become less interested in their fellow humans. Read More ›

Unrecognizable woman student using chat bot on laptop

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post

Gary Smith
Date
May 9, 2025

Categorized
Education, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Featured, Student use of LLMs}

Yes, Large Language Models May Soon be Smarter than Humans…

_{But not for the reason you think} _{Gary Smith
May 9, 2025

6

Education, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

Too many students are not learning how to think and write; they are learning how to use LLMs — no matter that LLM responses cannot be trusted. Read More ›

Mock code for an AI Large Language Model (LLM) that could intelligently answer questions. LLMs are one of the most popular implementations of recent Artificial Intelligence research

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Gary Smith, Valentina Liberman, and Isaac Warshaw
Date
April 21, 2025

Categorized
Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
ChatGPT-4o, DeepSeek-V2, Featured, Financial advice, Gemini 2, Grok 3 Beta, Isaac Warshaw, Valentina Liberman}

LLMs Still Cannot be Trusted for Financial Advice

_{The limitations of Large Language Models (chatbots) are illustrated by their struggles with financial advice} _{Gary Smith, Valentina Liberman, and Isaac Warshaw
April 21, 2025

7

Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

The real danger remains: we may think computers are smarter than us and consequently trust them to make decisions they should not be trusted to make. Read More ›

Close up of an AI Artificial Intelligence GPU chip on motherboard. Concept of LLM, Large Language Models.

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post

Gary Smith
Date
April 14, 2025

Categorized
Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Bill Gates, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Blake Lemoine, Featured, Future of Life Institute, HAL 9000, Jensen Huang, Marc Andreessen, Peter Norvig, Sam Altman, Scaling LLMs}

Large Language Models: A Lack-of-Progress Report

_{They will not be as powerful as either hoped or feared} _{Gary Smith
April 14, 2025

7

Artificial general intelligence (AGI), Large Language Models (LLMs)}

LLMs are enormously expensive yet it is increasingly clear that they will never be reliable enough to be trusted in complex situations where mistakes are costly Read More ›

Digital data stream analysis cyber environment visual display technology abstract perspective

^{Type
post

Gary Smith
Date
April 8, 2025

Categorized
Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Chris Anderson, Data Mining, HARKing, Large Language Models and data, Machine learning algorithms}

Machine Learning Algos Often Fail: They Focus on Data, Ignore Theory

_{Without a theory, a pattern is just a pattern} _{Gary Smith
April 8, 2025

7

Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

The data-mining algorithms may recognize that a statistical pattern has vanished but won’t know why because they do not understand it as a logical relationship. Read More ›

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Gary Smith
Date
March 28, 2025

Categorized
Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
AI bubble, Bicycle stock bubble, Dot-com bubble, Featured, Greater Fool Theory, John Burr Williams, Theory of Investment Value}

Yes, the AI Stock Bubble Is a Bubble

_{It's unfolding the way a financial bubble typically does} _{Gary Smith
March 28, 2025

6

Business and Finance, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

Unlike the Internet, LLMs are not useful enough to prompt customers to pay prices that reflect the hundreds of billions of dollars needed to develop them. Read More ›

Person uses laptop interacting with AI virtual assistant. AI head graphic overlay laptop keyboard. Concept of AI prompt engineering, LLM. Person types on keyboard to communicate with virtual

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post

Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
Date
March 6, 2025

Categorized
Economics, Large Language Models (LLMs)

Tagged
Featured, Free markets, LLMs and productivity, Tyler Cowen}

Why LLMs Are Not Boosting Productivity

_{If LLMs were as reliably useful as economist Tyler Cowen alleges, businesses would be using them to generate profits faster than LLMs generate text. They aren’t.} _{Jeffrey Funk and Gary Smith
March 6, 2025

5

Economics, Large Language Models (LLMs)}

So far, AI is dragging down economic growth by diverting so much human talent and natural resources away from more productive uses. Read More ›