Headnotes:

• If you are one of the commenters warning users not to consult ChatGPT, thank you.
  • Also thank you for not berating them in the comments; civility and empathy is important too.
• The goal of this post is to warn r/learnmath users not to use ChatGPT, especially as someone looking to be an 'Internet leader'.
  • I also, however, would not downvote ChatGPT posts (and unfortunately, I have seen most of these downvoted), which is explained much further down.
• Despite the contents of this post, I still have a lot of respect for r/learnmath (and other help sub and 'learn'-subs, like r/askscience, r/chemhelp, or r/learnprogramming). Sub-Reddits like this are very helpful if you want mathematical concepts or ideas explained, and r/learnmath is definitely a great space for math questions.
• Also see u/Spider-J's comment here.

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Something that I have observed on r/learnmath is questions that include a description, somewhere in the post (or even the post title), of OP consulting ChatGPT for math answers or math explanations. Sometimes I realize when top comment says something like, 'please don't use ChatGPT for math'. This is something that I feel that I should be vocal about.

If you are OP if any of the sample posts linked below, or any similar ChatGPT post here, I don't want to make fun of you, and I don't want to send a downvote train, but please don't blindly consult ChatGPT for math; ChatGPT is going to generate pseudoscience. I know it may be like having a 'digital friend', and I get that you may treat it as another social being, but ChatGPT should be used just like that, a virtual companion, not to explain math. There are much better resources to consult, like those listed on the sidebar, in the pinned mega-thread, or in the other pinned thread.

Speaking up about this can prevent people from deceiving themselves, especially if a mod overhears this. ChatGPT is built for generating text, not performing math. To quote u/MagicSquare8-9: "ChatGPT is not a calculator".

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Sample posts on this sub-Reddit about consulting ChatGPT:

• "Using ChatGpt to understand maths better/faster."
• "ChatGPT keeps getting this question wrong. Or am I wrong . Show that 15 is an inverse of 7(mod 26). [Discrete Math]"
• "Is ChatGPT right about this probability?"
• "A seemingly simple equation that’s not so simple at all 😩"

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Examples of online content highlighting pseudointellectual answers from ChatGPT:

• From Domotro on YouTube:
  • "The AI Robot ChatGPT is Hilariously Bad at Math..." (Short)
  • "Asking the "Advanced" AI Robot ChatGPT Math Questions" (VOD)
    • ChatGPT explaining an incorrect way to identify multiples of 3.
    • Domotro correcting ChatGPT about claiming that the nth factorial is always larger than the nth triangular number; the exception is when n = 2. (This is very sneaky, because of a singular exception, which is very easy to overlook when using asymptotic behavior to compare the outputs of two functions at a given input.)
    • A self-contradictory answer from ChatGPT, as well as incorrect statements about square numbers.
    • Error with modular arithmetic.
  • "AI Chat Robot vs. Basic Math" (VOD)
• From r/ChatGPT:
  • "Chat GPT giving wrong answers to an easy question and also sure about it’s answer."
  • "Careful. ChatGPT can be scary wrong at times."
  • "Why is ChatGPT getting this question wrong? Seems very easy."
• Other:
  • This clip from "How high can ChatGPT count?" on YouTube
  • This comment here on r/learnmath (Thanks, u/keitamaki!)
  • This post & thread on r/badmathematics

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Also addressing the 'hivemind' effect regarding karma scores...

(This is also also is returning to that 'Internet leader' phrase.) When writing this, I kept observing that most ChatGPT posts on r/learnmath with scores of 0. As a quick example, the upvote ratios of the sample posts are around 53%, 29%, 21%, and 50% respectively; two of those are very low. I wouldn't downvote these posts; I would upvote them if anything. The comments are pretty much always civil, which is good, but the downvotes/upvotes don't always match up.

Yes, I understand that these ChatGPT posts may seem rediculous, and may be tempting to downvote, but I feel the downvoters are overlooking a somewhat 'Goldilocks-style' equilibrium here. I would still upvote, based on a few factors:

• Downvotes on Reddit are mainly meant to discourage spam, trolling, uncivil comments, or other bad-faith behaviors, not these ChatGPT posts. As long as they are not troll questions, they should be upvoted.

Here, the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

• ↑: This quote is on the sidebar, based on this, even the ChatGPT questions deserve to be upvoted.

I'm not upset that the OP asked the question. I took it as a good-faith question, and answered in good faith. If somebody asks a similar question next week, we should answer again.

• ↑: That is a quote from a comment by u/AllanCWechsler, a frequent commenter here. Which is strongly relatable to the other sidebar quote, and I would have a similar thing to say.
• This is a sub-Reddit for math questions. The r/learnmath sub-Reddit has a highly philanthropic goal: to answer math questions.
  • Math is also hard for many people.

There is a similar effect in other cases sometimes, like here and here.

If you are OP in either of those two examples from the previous sentence or the sample posts listed above. I would not wish the downvotes you received; I would wish upvotes instead.

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Suggestions for the moderators:

• *First, whatever the r/learnmath moderators do, I would NOT remove ChatGPT posts...
  • Again, that sidebar quote indicates that r/learnmath should be an open hub for math questions, and a highly philanthropic sub-Reddit, so I don't want ChatGPT posts removed.
  • This is something that u/AllanCWechsler also hints at: "I don't see what we gain by banning. A little convenience?"
• *I don't doubt the items suggested below could even be used to counter the 'hivemind' effect as well.
• Suggestion from that same comment by u/AllanCWechsler: "What would help is to have a FAQ for this page, where we don't have to type essentially the same answer over and over."
  • Anywhere on the sidebar would also work.
• Suggestion by u/GiraffeWeevil here (and I also appreciate your second thought about banning): "I see where you are coming from. I would also be happy if, rather than banning, there was a sticky that appeared on every chatbot post that outlines why using chatbot to learn maths is a bad idea."
• A bot that comments a warning about ChatGPT on posts containing(in the description or the title) 'ChatGPT', 'chatbot', or a phrase similar to 'I asked AI [...]' or 'I asked a bot [...]'.