reasoning models

Reasoning traces often leave out what drove the answer, and explanations make people accept wrong answers more. Show progress and evidence, and decide who gets the full trace.

A vocabulary check on one of the most important model developments of recent years. The good answer explains the trade (accuracy for time and money) and gives a rule for when it pays.

Reasoning tokens are billed as output and add latency. Find the lowest effort that holds quality for each feature, and spend high effort where it measurably helps.

The cost of the model is rarely the biggest number in this decision. The cost of a wrong answer is. One calculation makes the choice obvious in some products and wrong in others.