Arithmetic Without Numbers: How LLMs Do Math
Hacker News (AI keywords)·3d ago·Commentary
The article asks whether LLM arithmetic is memorization, heuristics, real computation, or experimental assistance.
It summarizes Rune experiments that decode operations and operands from frozen Llama activations, then route them to Python under a no-parser rule.
The strongest supported claim is narrow: activation-derived tool arguments worked in scoped audits, while residual-state JIT replacement, long-number generation, and cross-model transfer remain brittle.