ChatGPT-4 with Code Interpreter can be used to solve introductory college-level vector calculus and electromagnetism problems

TL;DR

This study evaluates ChatGPT-4 with Code Interpreter on college-level vector calculus and electromagnetism problems, showing significant performance improvements over standard ChatGPT versions and offering practical strategies for users.

Contribution

It demonstrates that ChatGPT-4 with Code Interpreter can effectively solve complex engineering math problems, a novel application enhancing AI utility in education.

Findings

ChatGPT-4 with Code Interpreter outperforms standard versions on math problems.

Repeated attempts and majority voting improve solution accuracy.

Provides practical recommendations for educators and students.

Abstract

We evaluated ChatGPT 3.5, 4, and 4 with Code Interpreter on a set of college-level engineering-math and electromagnetism problems, such as those often given to sophomore electrical engineering majors. We selected a set of 13 problems, and had ChatGPT solve them multiple times, using a fresh instance (chat) each time. We found that ChatGPT-4 with Code Interpreter was able to satisfactorily solve most problems we tested most of the time -- a major improvement over the performance of ChatGPT-4 (or 3.5) without Code Interpreter. The performance of ChatGPT was observed to be somewhat stochastic, and we found that solving the same problem N times in new ChatGPT instances and taking the most-common answer was an effective strategy. Based on our findings and observations, we provide some recommendations for instructors and students of classes at this level.