Dot Product Thinking: How LLMs Multiply Tokens, But Miss Meaning
Last Updated on August 28, 2025 by Editorial Team
Author(s): Ajay Deewan
Originally published on Towards AI.
The math behind how machines complete our sentences — and why that still isn’t understanding
When ChatGPT completes your sentence better than your closest friend, what is actually happening?
The article explores the concept of ‘dot product’ in large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, explaining that while these models complete sentences effectively, they lack real understanding. By measuring the similarity between vectors rather than grasping meaning, the LLMs perform tasks by aligning tokens statistically without true comprehension. The author argues that this prevalent reliance on mathematical operations oversimplifies human language processing, which is rich with memory, emotion, and self-awareness, emphasizing that the absence of an internal reference frame in AI results in a disconnection from meaningful experience.
Read the full blog for free on Medium.
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