1. How sure are you that it can't? Have you tried with ChatGPT-5-Pro?
2. It's probably not very well represented in the training data. Humans don't often ask other humans to count to a million. Asking why an AI can't count to a million seems similar to asking a human why they can't easily recite the alphabet backwards (unless they've tried it before, or they really think it through ie count forwards to get each prior letter, or they use a 'tool' e.g. writing it down).
bell-cot · 1h ago
For basically the same reason that ELIZA ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA ) couldn't count to a million. It's doesn't actually understand things, and it's not a general intelligence.
In human terms - think of ChatGPT as a very well-born person, sadly with profound brain issues, who you are meeting at a fancy cocktail hour. His family has spent years and $millions getting him to the point of looking & sounding pretty good, within that very limited social context. But he's never actually made a PB&J sandwich. Let alone gotten dressed and gone to the grocery store by himself.
Over cocktails, Mr. ChatGPT seems darned impressive. But that's because your "is this guy mentally fit?" instincts - developed and tuned in interactions with normal people - naturally jump to flawed conclusions.
adinhitlore · 1h ago
token limitations?? Can OSS 120 billion do it? I noticed even as 100% free version is very generous will give many LOC in codegen.
2. It's probably not very well represented in the training data. Humans don't often ask other humans to count to a million. Asking why an AI can't count to a million seems similar to asking a human why they can't easily recite the alphabet backwards (unless they've tried it before, or they really think it through ie count forwards to get each prior letter, or they use a 'tool' e.g. writing it down).
In human terms - think of ChatGPT as a very well-born person, sadly with profound brain issues, who you are meeting at a fancy cocktail hour. His family has spent years and $millions getting him to the point of looking & sounding pretty good, within that very limited social context. But he's never actually made a PB&J sandwich. Let alone gotten dressed and gone to the grocery store by himself.
Over cocktails, Mr. ChatGPT seems darned impressive. But that's because your "is this guy mentally fit?" instincts - developed and tuned in interactions with normal people - naturally jump to flawed conclusions.