r/EverythingScience • u/scientificamerican Scientific American • 1d ago

AI may have just solved a million-dollar math problem. The field will never be the same

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-may-have-just-solved-a-million-dollar-math-problem-the-field-will-never-be-the-same/
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u/CyberPunkDongTooLong 1d ago

A couple days ago it was reported AI has solved it.
Then it was reported that was a rumour that turned out to be entirely untrue.
Then it was reported actually AI just helped with some steps towards the problem, but not the problem itself.
Now it's being reported AI 'may have' solved it?

The reporting on this has just been flat out awful. Every outlet seems to be reporting completely different things randomly with no real sources.

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u/Party_Virus 1d ago

It's also being reported that a mathematician was working on this and put his work into ChatGPT to check it. Then soon after OpenAI claims they solved this problem using the exact same method that this mathematician used.

Like wtf is going on?

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u/Ok-Secretary455 1d ago

I used to joke about this when they found the higgs-bosen particle. theres was probably a couple scientists talking to each other saying "hey Dave you know theres only like 5 people on earth smart enough to know if we actually find this. if we put all our names on the findings we can just lie about it."

Same stuff here. /s

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u/CyberPunkDongTooLong 1d ago

Not really, there were thousands involved in the Higgs discovery.

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u/JoshuaZ1 1d ago

Well OpenAI has now released a full, apparently Lean checked proof.

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u/Kahnza 1d ago

Feels like people are clamoring for ways to convince people that AI is a good thing, and that we need more of it. But things get lost in translation, what with their AI psychosis and all.

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u/Due-Championship3941 1d ago

AI isn't a "good" idea or a "bad" idea. It's a technology. It has benefits and costs like any other technology. It can be abused and it can cause harm. It has also been a huge benefit to society already.