Post
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When an AI Model Solves College-Level Math and Physics — On a Phone
This morning I came across a model called Nanbeige4.1-3B, and what began as simple curiosity quickly became something more significant.
I loaded an already 4-bit quantized version and ran it locally on a phone. No GPU, no cloud support, no hidden infrastructure — just a compact reasoning model operating entirely at the edge.
I started with classical mechanics: acceleration, force, friction on an incline. The model worked through them cleanly and correctly. Then I stepped into calculus and gave it a differential equation. It immediately recognized the structure, chose the proper method, carried the mathematics through without confusion, and verified the result.
It did not behave like a model trying to sound intelligent. It behaved like a system trained to solve problems.
And it was doing this on a phone.
For a long time, we have associated serious reasoning in AI with massive models and enormous compute. Capability was supposed to live inside data centers. Bigger models were expected to mean smarter systems.
But watching Nanbeige4.1-3B handle college-level math and physics forces a rethink of that assumption. Intelligence is not only expanding — it is compressing. Better training and sharper reasoning alignment are allowing smaller models to operate far beyond what their size once suggested.
When structured problem-solving runs locally on pocket hardware, the implications are larger than they first appear. Experimentation becomes personal. Engineers can explore ideas without waiting on infrastructure. Students can access serious analytical capability from a device they already carry. Builders are no longer required to send every complex task into the cloud.
What makes moments like this easy to miss is that they rarely arrive with fanfare. There is no dramatic announceme
The model responses are here
https://fate-stingray-0b3.notion.site/AI-model-Nanbeige4-1-3B-304
This morning I came across a model called Nanbeige4.1-3B, and what began as simple curiosity quickly became something more significant.
I loaded an already 4-bit quantized version and ran it locally on a phone. No GPU, no cloud support, no hidden infrastructure — just a compact reasoning model operating entirely at the edge.
I started with classical mechanics: acceleration, force, friction on an incline. The model worked through them cleanly and correctly. Then I stepped into calculus and gave it a differential equation. It immediately recognized the structure, chose the proper method, carried the mathematics through without confusion, and verified the result.
It did not behave like a model trying to sound intelligent. It behaved like a system trained to solve problems.
And it was doing this on a phone.
For a long time, we have associated serious reasoning in AI with massive models and enormous compute. Capability was supposed to live inside data centers. Bigger models were expected to mean smarter systems.
But watching Nanbeige4.1-3B handle college-level math and physics forces a rethink of that assumption. Intelligence is not only expanding — it is compressing. Better training and sharper reasoning alignment are allowing smaller models to operate far beyond what their size once suggested.
When structured problem-solving runs locally on pocket hardware, the implications are larger than they first appear. Experimentation becomes personal. Engineers can explore ideas without waiting on infrastructure. Students can access serious analytical capability from a device they already carry. Builders are no longer required to send every complex task into the cloud.
What makes moments like this easy to miss is that they rarely arrive with fanfare. There is no dramatic announceme
The model responses are here
https://fate-stingray-0b3.notion.site/AI-model-Nanbeige4-1-3B-304
