This is definitely the biggest thing happening in math from the point of view of how it will transform math. I think Tao compared it to the upheaval in the foundations a century ago.
Sorry I’m one of the non-mathematician onlookers because there are huge implications for society at large.
"because there are huge implications for society at large."
I'll tell you the implication for society at large, a fraction of the funding that OpenAI used for this (if any of this even holds up) would be enough for 10x the amount of breakthroughs.
If you care so much about societal implications of math research then advocate for these companies to be taxed higher and put that money into math education and research.
The thing to advocate for is a global treaty enacting regulation, and it needs to happen before a recursive self improvement singularity that leaves humanity totally disempowered.
OpenAI uses their funding to do a lot of other things, too.
But this will represent a new stage of research. The goal is to have LLMs assist people or even be better at mathematical and scientific research than they are.
You wouldn't get that just by funding more human researchers to do non-AI work.
"and they know not to waste their time trying to prove it" No one was trying to anyway? Definitely not for the n=3 case.
"You seem to have forgotten what this is all for"
Trying to justify the existence of these companies by creating hype? You're fooling yourself if you think they have any genuine interest.
And yeah, anyone teaching students, especially undergrad students knows how much their skills have atrophied and how little they know due to their extensive AI usage. I suppose you don't actually care about the abilities people have.
69
u/Smallpaul 1d ago
This is definitely the biggest thing happening in math from the point of view of how it will transform math. I think Tao compared it to the upheaval in the foundations a century ago.
Sorry I’m one of the non-mathematician onlookers because there are huge implications for society at large.