Home · Personal · Learning & Study · Exams & revision

YES

As of 13 August 2026, AI can show the working for a maths problem.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

2 minutesto a draft.

15 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsKhanmigo is listed as an AI tutor for maths and homework help; no price is supplied here.

If this goes wrong: you learn or practise an incorrect method, but you can usually redo the problem against a textbook, calculator or teacher's explanation.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

  2. Do it yourself

    Second choice

    A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 15 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open a chatbot and copy the exact maths question into the [MATHS PROBLEM] slot, including any diagram labels, units and answer choices.
    2. Add your level or course, such as GCSE, A level or university, and state the line where you became stuck if you know it.
    3. Send the prompt and read the explanation before looking only at the final answer, noting the rule or formula used at each stage.
    4. Work through the problem yourself on paper, then compare each rearrangement and calculation with the AI's working rather than checking only the final number.
    5. Check the final result by substituting it back into the original equation, using an appropriate calculator or comparing the method with your textbook or revision notes.
    6. Ask the chatbot to explain any step you cannot reproduce, and then redo the complete problem without copying the answer.

    Prompt

    Show me how to solve this maths problem step by step:

[MATHS PROBLEM]

My level or course is [LEVEL OR COURSE, IF KNOWN]. I want to learn the method, not just receive the answer. State what the question is asking, identify the relevant rule or formula, show every important rearrangement and calculation, and explain why each step is valid. Keep exact values until the final step unless rounding is required. Then give the final answer with units where relevant and check it by substitution, estimation or another suitable method. If the wording or any image is unclear, ask one specific clarifying question instead of guessing. Do not skip steps or invent information.

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

  3. Use a tool built for this

    The distant third

What it gets wrong

  • It cannot reliably tell whether you understand a step just because you can repeat the explanation.
  • It can choose a valid but unfamiliar method without knowing which method your teacher or exam board expects.
  • It can make a small arithmetic or sign error while presenting the working confidently.
  • It cannot infer missing information from an unclear diagram or badly copied question without risking a guess.

Even on a YES, the friction has a name: judgement under ambiguity and verification cost.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs2
Verification1
Liability2
Effort delta2
Total9 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT show the working for a maths problem?
Yes. Give it the complete question and ask for every important step, the rule used and a check of the final answer. Check the working yourself because a chatbot can make a sign, arithmetic or interpretation error.
Can AI explain maths instead of just giving the answer?
Yes, if you ask it to teach the method and not reveal only the final answer. Tell it your level and where you are stuck, then ask it to explain any step you cannot reproduce.
Can AI solve a maths problem from a photo?
Usually, provided the photo is clear and includes the whole question, diagram and labels. Check that it has read every symbol correctly, because a blurred minus sign, exponent or unit can change the solution.
How do I know if AI maths working is correct?
Substitute the result into the original equation where possible and recalculate the steps yourself. For an unfamiliar method, compare it with your textbook, revision notes or a teacher's explanation rather than relying on the chatbot's confidence.

Nearby answers

All Exams & revision rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

The newsletter

AI news, new answers and product picks, straight to your inbox.