The 'System 2' LLM: How Models Learn to Reason (o1, R1)
Introduction: Two Systems of Thinking In cognitive science, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman described human thinking as two distinct systems: System 1: Fast, automatic, intuitive (e.g., recognizing faces, reading emotions) System 2: Slow, deliberate, analytical (e.g., solving math problems, planning) Traditional LLMs operate almost entirely in System 1 mode: they generate responses instantly, token by token, with no deliberate planning or self-reflection. Ask GPT-4 a question, and it starts answering immediately—no visible “thinking time.” ...