Arxiv paper - The Illusion of Thinking: Understanding the Strengths and Limitations of Reasoning Models via the Lens of Problem Complexity

In this episode, we discuss The Illusion of Thinking: Understanding the Strengths and Limitations of Reasoning Models via the Lens of Problem Complexity by The authors of the paper are: - Parshin Shojaee - Iman Mirzadeh - Keivan Alizadeh - Maxwell Horton - Samy Bengio - Mehrdad Farajtabar. This paper examines the reasoning abilities of Large Reasoning Models (LRMs) using controlled puzzles to analyze both their final answers and internal reasoning processes. It reveals that LRMs struggle with high-complexity problems, showing performance collapse and inconsistent reasoning despite sufficient computational resources. The study identifies distinct performance regimes and highlights fundamental limitations in LRMs' exact computation and use of explicit algorithms, questioning their true reasoning capabilities.