Unleashing System 2 Thinking? AlphaCodium Outperforms Direct Prompting of OpenAI o1

OpenAI's o1 model, which is seen as exhibiting a form of reasoning dubbed "System 1.5" thinking, is part of a broader exploration into enhancing AI's problem-solving capabilities. This model, described as being between instinctive System I and deliberate System II thinking, was tested using AlphaCodium, a tool developed by Qodo to improve code generation. AlphaCodium leverages a multi-stage flow to refine code iteratively, significantly boosting accuracy in solving complex coding problems, as evidenced by its performance on the Codeforces benchmark. This approach highlights the potential for AI models to move towards more strategic, System II-like reasoning when scaffolded with appropriate frameworks and tools. Despite the promise shown by the combination of AlphaCodium and o1, the model still struggles with full System II capabilities, such as independent multi-step problem-solving and validation, indicating ongoing challenges in AI development. The findings, shared openly to encourage further research, underscore the importance of strategic flow-engineering in AI's evolution toward more sophisticated reasoning, with open-source initiatives like AlphaCodium playing a pivotal role in this progression.