[scotty79]

Token is not a clump of letters. It's a multidimensional initial input vector that gets tweaked and transformed. GPT doesn't think in tokens. It just accepts them as input (although it happily accepts any other vectors in-between the vectors that represent tokens and finding best prompt for a given task not as tokens but as input vectors is a legitimate prompt optimization strategy).

It also outputs vectors that are coerced into tokens for human consumption.

Yes, it goes through tokens but possible internal meanings assigned to these tokens (when surrounded by other tokens) are infinite.

That's how humans form caves got to where we are now. By associating new meanings with the same old sound clumps.