Deductive reasoning begins with premises and applies logical rules to determine what must follow if those premises are true. It differs from induction, which generalizes from observations, and abduction, which proposes the most plausible explanation for incomplete evidence.
A language model may find an alternative deductive path by connecting known statements in a new sequence. The conclusion is dependable only when the premises are sound and each inference is valid, which makes formal proof or other explicit checking valuable.
ELI5
Deductive reasoning starts with accepted statements and follows logic to a conclusion. If the starting statements are true and every step is valid, the conclusion must also be true.
For example, if every item in a tested class has property A and this object belongs to that class, deduction says the object has property A. An AI can search for a less obvious chain of steps, but each link still needs checking.
