Optimizing AI Thinking: How to Make Large Language Models Work Smarter, Not Harder The Problem: When AI Overthinks Imagine a student solving a math problem: Question: “Calculate 9th Fibonacci number (F₁=1)” Basic AI Response: “Starting with F₁=1 and F₂=1… F₃=2, F₄=3… Let me verify using Binet’s formula… (calculates 3 different ways) … Confirms 34. But wait, let me check again using recursive approach…” (Writes 2,000+ words of redundant calculations) This “overthinking” plague affects modern reasoning AI like DeepSeek-R1 and OpenAI’s O1. Like a student second-guessing themselves, these models generate excessive reasoning steps that: Waste computational resources (longer answers = more …