A thoughtful AI collaborator for writing, analysis, coding, and long-form work.
Full evaluationGlossary · Updated Sep 2, 2026
Chain-of-thought
Prompting or training a model to work through intermediate steps explicitly, which often improves reasoning accuracy.
Definition
Chain-of-thought elicits step-by-step reasoning, either by asking the model to think aloud or through training that rewards deliberate reasoning. It helps on arithmetic, logic, and planning, though visible reasoning is not always faithful to the model's actual computation. Reasoning models internalise this behaviour.
Why it matters when choosing a tool
Understanding chain-of-thought explains why asking an assistant to reason step by step often yields better answers on tricky questions.
Where you will meet it
AI Assistants, AI Learning & Tutoring
Related terms
Tools where this matters
Reviewed products in the related categories
A broad multimodal assistant for research, creation, analysis, and agentic work.
Full evaluation
An answer engine built around current web research and visible citations.
Full evaluation
AI-assisted classroom assessments, interactive presentations, and differentiated learning activities
Full evaluation
Online learning platform offering university courses, professional certificates, and AI-powered study tools
Full evaluation
Visual knowledge base and AI tutor combining whiteboards, cards, and source annotations.
Full evaluation