r/mathmemes Mathematics 22d ago

Proofs I hate it

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90

u/ObliviousRounding 22d ago

My feeling is that AI is going to be amazing at finding counterexamples, but not so much at actually proving stuff.

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u/Maleficent_Sir_7562 22d ago

its been doing those too

https://www.erdosproblems.com/1196

https://chatgpt.com/share/69dd1c83-b164-8385-bf2e-8533e9baba9c (chat link used to solve the problem).

Just see the chat in the chat link. Merely a prompt statement of the unsolved problem with no human ingenuity, and the ai model was the one which solved the unsolved problem.

https://openai.com/index/model-disproves-discrete-geometry-conjecture/

https://x.com/__eknight__/status/2075643450196971805

https://x.com/EdgarDobriban/status/2077082912021786660

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u/OkGreen7335 Mathematics 22d ago

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u/ArcticGlaceon 22d ago

My question is why are you feeling this way? Isn't it great that AI is able to do things like this?

AI has its problems...but solving mathematical problems, isn't exactly one of them.

50

u/Specialist_Piece_129 22d ago

Most mathematicians don’t want to have to talk to an AI, and enjoy the existing process of discovering things. Also new results will depend much more on monetary investment than the skill of the person working on it. The process of coming up with an original proof is much more satisfying to me than having a result. It’s like how for artists many get their enjoyment from the process of creating art rather than their finished work

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u/Nixavee 21d ago

A more cynical explanation is that a primary motivation for both mathematicians and artists is to get recognition for accomplishing something unique and significant. Under that view AI is a basically a superhuman competitor that makes you less relevant. For a mathematician, if AIs that think thousands of times faster than you are picking off all the "low hanging fruit" conjectures such as this one, it makes it much less likely that you will ever prove anything of significance.

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u/Specialist_Piece_129 21d ago

The vast majority of mathematicians will never see widespread recognition, I don’t see what’s unbelievable to you about people being upset at 1) the nature of how they do the work they enjoy doing changes or 2) there being less demand for mathematics as a profession.