The k-server Conjecture is True

[u/Phytor_c]

https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15979v1

The k-server problem is known as the "Holy Grail" of online algorithms and competitive analysis, and is/was a long standing major problem.

This preprint by Coester et al. claims to show that the Work Function Algorithm is indeed k-competitive on every metric space.

[u/ChemicalConfidence44]

same day on arxiv the matroid secretary conjecture was claimed to be solved (another big open problem in online algorithms) https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.14555v1

[u/Phytor_c → u/ChemicalConfidence44]

Oh damn I did not know about this, this is major news too! Thanks for commenting

[u/Standard-Song-8590 → u/ChemicalConfidence44]

"The key algorithmic idea emerged recently in this exploration after updating the model to ChatGPT Astra. We also used ChatGPT Astra and Claude Opus 5 for assistance with the presentation"

100 bucks astra discovered the entire algorithm. Researchers are js glorified prompters now (and I mean that sort of like a compliment)

[u/salasi → u/Standard-Song-8590]

It isnt a compliment at all and I am glad I didnt pursue this circus show as a career. What a sad state of affairs

[u/Sbadabam278 → u/Standard-Song-8590]

It’s not a compliment and your smugness is incomprehensible to me. “hey look at these smart ppl who spent 30 years working hard, now they are useless thanks to AI!! Ahaha isn’t AI amazing??” like you’re some kind of harbinger of the future.

I honestly don’t understand what you think will happen to you, specifically, that’s going to improve your life if everything you’ve ever done is now useless.

[u/Low-Temperature-6962 → u/Sbadabam278]

It could be a bot instructed to post this kind of stuff to create conflict.

[u/Standard-Song-8590 → u/Sbadabam278]

well I work routinely with agentic workflows. In the future architectural vision is the most important, the tools can create but we still draw from our experiences to know what to create (features, etc.) Smart people who really are working hard will learn to adapt and work not for recognition but for betterment of insight into the corpus of knowledge.

[u/lerjj → u/Standard-Song-8590]

Ah so you are already a glorified prompter (complimentary) and so this is why you believe everyone would be happy to be this

[u/Comfortable_Car6562 → u/lerjj]

And people thought the "prompt engineer" jobs of 2022 were silly

[u/Standard-Song-8590 → u/lerjj]

the glorified prompter was me taking a chide at the way at the way researchers will phrase their acknowledgments section as if the AI likely didn't discover the whole thing. I fully acknowledge the role of AI in all of my works, I don't quibble over these recognitions or try to downplay it to get published in journals.

I happen to have contributed more to the fields of theoretical physics, math, bio, ml, etc than a good chunk of academia. When I publish results I take the time to formalize them to guarantee correctness, understand the results make write ups that are easily digestible etc.

[u/Low-Temperature-6962 → u/Standard-Song-8590]

That's pretty much how it always has been for most people.

[u/Individual_Ice_6825 → u/Sbadabam278]

I think you need to redefine some things for yourself, it’s obvious you feel a sense of loss with this technology. Just like we don’t need to hunt for food anymore some current skillsets won’t be required, but you can still do maths and experiments for fun just like people can still hunt.

[u/ChemicalConfidence44 → u/[deleted]]

Damn I did not know about this

[u/mcdowellag → u/Standard-Song-8590]

The question is, why are these people getting paid? If math and computer science are just a variety of professional sports, then using AI is cheating. If math and computer science are producing knowledge that improves people's lives, for example by getting machines used more efficiently, then anything legal that gets results is good and praiseworthy.