Chain of Draft: Thinking Faster by Writing Less


Details
This week, we will walk through and discuss the paper:
Chain of Draft: Thinking Faster by Writing Less
[https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.18600]
Abstract of the paper:
Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable performance in solving complex reasoning tasks through mechanisms like Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting, which emphasizes verbose, step-by-step reasoning. However, humans typically employ a more efficient strategy: drafting concise intermediate thoughts that capture only essential information. In this work, we propose Chain of Draft (CoD), a novel paradigm inspired by human cognitive processes, where LLMs generate minimalistic yet informative intermediate reasoning outputs while solving tasks. By reducing verbosity and focusing on critical insights, CoD matches or surpasses CoT in accuracy while using as little as only 7.6% of the tokens, significantly reducing cost and latency across various reasoning tasks.
We are a group of applied AI practitioners and enthusiasts who have formed a collective learning community. Every Wednesday evening at PM PST, we hold our research paper reading seminar covering an AI topic. One member carefully explains the paper, making it more accessible to a broader audience. Then, we follow this reading with a more informal discussion and socializing.
You are welcome to join this in person or over Zoom. SupportVectors is an AI training lab located in Fremont, CA, close to Tesla and easily accessible by road and BART. We follow the weekly sessions with snacks, soft drinks, and informal discussions.
If you want to attend by Zoom, the Zoom registration link will be visible once you RSVP. Note that we have had to change and add security to the Zoom link to prevent Zoom bombing.

Every week on Wednesday until February 11, 2026
Chain of Draft: Thinking Faster by Writing Less