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AI Glossary

What is Chain of Thought (CoT)?

A prompting technique where AI shows its reasoning step-by-step to improve accuracy.

By Council Research TeamUpdated: Jan 27, 2026

Definition

Chain of Thought prompting encourages AI models to break down complex problems into intermediate reasoning steps before giving a final answer. This significantly improves performance on math, logic, and multi-step reasoning tasks.

Examples

1Adding "Let's think step by step"
2Asking AI to show its work
3DeepSeek R1's built-in reasoning

Why It Matters

CoT prompting can dramatically improve AI accuracy on complex tasks. Some models like DeepSeek R1 do this automatically.

Related Terms

Prompt Engineering

The practice of crafting effective instructions to get better results from AI models.

Large Language Model (LLM)

An AI system trained on vast text data to understand and generate human-like text.

Common Questions

What does Chain of Thought (CoT) mean in simple terms?

A prompting technique where AI shows its reasoning step-by-step to improve accuracy.

Why is Chain of Thought (CoT) important for AI users?

CoT prompting can dramatically improve AI accuracy on complex tasks. Some models like DeepSeek R1 do this automatically.

How does Chain of Thought (CoT) relate to AI chatbots like ChatGPT?

Chain of Thought (CoT) is a fundamental concept in how AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini work. For example: Adding "Let's think step by step" Understanding this helps you use AI tools more effectively.

Related Use Cases

Best AI for Math

Best AI for Coding

Best AI for Research

AI Models Using This Concept

DeepSeekDeepSeekClaudeClaude

See Chain of Thought (CoT) in Action

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