Why does it struggle so much with simple equations?

I recently decided to start the process of applying for disability. I didn't know if I had enough work history to get a large enough payment to make ends meet though. So I looked it up on the social security website, input all my history to ChatGPT, and then aslo input my 2025 work history that is not factored in yet. The social security website gives a projected amount for retirement based on my history through 2024.

Now I went back and forth with ChatGPT so many times! It was just a repeated pattern of me asking it to compute how much I may get for a disability payment based on the work experience on the site, but then also factor in 2025. It would respond by showing me how it was doing the math, then it would use the projected amount for retirement, and give me an amount. I would remind it to factor in 2025, and it would, but the amount was then lower than the initial amount it gave me, which made no sense. So I would tell it something wasn't right, and it would refactor using the projected retirement amount again. I went around in circles like this for quite awhile really trying to get an accurate number. I got quite a few numbers hundreds of dollars apart, so I guess came away with a ballpark, but still not even a good estimate I can work out budgets with.

I have experienced similar issues in the past. I'm just wondering why it is so bad at something that seems like the very basics of computer programing? Math isn't hard to program, so how is it messing this up so badly? Makes me wonder if it messes everything up this badly and I just don't realize it because it's not as concrete as math is.

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