Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#11

Post by duskdozer » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC

cinntaile wrote: post #4

12k5ha wrote: post #3

Quantamagazine is owned by the heavily AI invested Renaissance Fund. The whole article is an ad that covertly or overtly inserts how websites are built with ChatGPT, how humans say that AI is better than them etc. This is incidentally the future of chatbots. I could not have written this comment without Illy Espresso. Would you like to find a cafe near you?

There is no such thing as the Renaissance Fund. Quanta receives funds from the Simons Foundation... I also don't know where you get it from that Renaissance Technologies is heavily invested in AI. Any sources to back up your claims because I suspect you made all that up?

There is. As for their investments, I don't know:

https://www.simonsfoundation.org/about/our-history/

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#12

Post by the_sleaze_ » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC

throwatdem12311 wrote: post #6

When OpenAI posted about their 10 breakthroughs, I saw lots of career research mathematicians say things mostly along the lines of “I don’t understand any of this it’s way over my head”. Are we missing the forest for the trees here? If a math problem falls in the forest but nobody is around to understand it does it make a sound? How can we possibly make use of these breakthroughs if we don’t understand them? How coul…

I don't mean to be dismissive, are these just old puzzles with no practical use whatsoever?

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#13

Post by qsort » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:47 PM UTC

throwatdem12311 wrote: post #6

When OpenAI posted about their 10 breakthroughs, I saw lots of career research mathematicians say things mostly along the lines of “I don’t understand any of this it’s way over my head”. Are we missing the forest for the trees here? If a math problem falls in the forest but nobody is around to understand it does it make a sound? How can we possibly make use of these breakthroughs if we don’t understand them? How coul…

> When OpenAI posted about their 10 breakthroughs, I saw lots of career research mathematicians say things mostly along the lines of “I don’t understand any of this it’s way over my head”.

Huh?

Mathematics is an extremely wide subject, it's perfectly normal even for two professional mathematicians not to understand each other's work. Have you considered that maybe they just don't work in that area?

Are you implying OpenAI's paper (which was, by the way, edited by humans and provided Lean certificates for most of the proofs) is actually gibberish? That's flat-earth levels of conspiracy.

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#14

Post by the_sleaze_ » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:48 PM UTC

RandomLensman wrote: post #8

12k5ha wrote: post #3

Quantamagazine is owned by the heavily AI invested Renaissance Fund. The whole article is an ad that covertly or overtly inserts how websites are built with ChatGPT, how humans say that AI is better than them etc. This is incidentally the future of chatbots. I could not have written this comment without Illy Espresso. Would you like to find a cafe near you?

Which fund would that be?

https://www.rentec.com/Home.action?index=true

> The company is widely considered one of the most profitable hedge funds in history, generating an estimated $7 billion to $8 billion in annual revenue solely from management and performance fees

If you don't know Ren you should!

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#15

Post by TaLiTr » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:48 PM UTC

12k5ha wrote: post #3

Quantamagazine is owned by the heavily AI invested Renaissance Fund. The whole article is an ad that covertly or overtly inserts how websites are built with ChatGPT, how humans say that AI is better than them etc. This is incidentally the future of chatbots. I could not have written this comment without Illy Espresso. Would you like to find a cafe near you?

>Quantamagazine is owned by the heavily AI invested Renaissance Fund.

Except it's not? It's owned by a private foundation where the only link is both were founded by the same dude who hasn't run either in like 15 years.

That seems like a pretty big thing to just gloss over like it's just set-dressing.

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#16

Post by WarmWash » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:48 PM UTC

throwatdem12311 wrote: post #6

When OpenAI posted about their 10 breakthroughs, I saw lots of career research mathematicians say things mostly along the lines of “I don’t understand any of this it’s way over my head”. Are we missing the forest for the trees here? If a math problem falls in the forest but nobody is around to understand it does it make a sound? How can we possibly make use of these breakthroughs if we don’t understand them? How coul…

Mathematics is an unusually dense (if not the most dense...by a few large steps) field. So lots of areas of mathematics are extremely deep and narrow without any real shortcuts, even for seasoned mathematicians.

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#17

Post by hgoel » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:50 PM UTC

throwatdem12311 wrote: post #6

When OpenAI posted about their 10 breakthroughs, I saw lots of career research mathematicians say things mostly along the lines of “I don’t understand any of this it’s way over my head”. Are we missing the forest for the trees here? If a math problem falls in the forest but nobody is around to understand it does it make a sound? How can we possibly make use of these breakthroughs if we don’t understand them? How coul…

This seems like an extreme exaggeration from a few people claiming to not understand a very recent result. This cycle of a new result being discovered, and reaearchers needing some time to truly digest and disassemble it, is normal.

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#18

Post by a_conservative » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:51 PM UTC

throwatdem12311 wrote: post #6

When OpenAI posted about their 10 breakthroughs, I saw lots of career research mathematicians say things mostly along the lines of “I don’t understand any of this it’s way over my head”. Are we missing the forest for the trees here? If a math problem falls in the forest but nobody is around to understand it does it make a sound? How can we possibly make use of these breakthroughs if we don’t understand them? How coul…

I have the same questions about human mathematicians!

I can't tell if xkcd #435 is still true, or if math is just as mushy as everything else seems to be. When a math proof can only be understood by a handful of people, what does that mean about that proof? I think the LLMs are pushing a problem that existed already and pushing it further.

[0] https://xkcd.com/435/

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#19

Post by e4325f » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:52 PM UTC

ComputerPerson wrote: post #2

The mathematics are above my intellectual capacities, but I still find the man and his lifestyle fascinating. Though I admit his heart attack probably wasn't a coincidence, sadly. I wonder if national, institutional, or otherwise "eccentric" sponsorships (encouraging a similar migrant-madman approach to academic cultivation) of some of the folks on HN wouldn't lead to meaningful discoveries in CS. I often see comment…

> Though I admit his heart attack probably wasn't a coincidence, sadly.

He died aged 83...

Re: Why Erdős Problems Are Falling to AI

#20

Post by saalweachter » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 1:55 PM UTC

the_sleaze_ wrote: post #12

throwatdem12311 wrote: post #6

When OpenAI posted about their 10 breakthroughs, I saw lots of career research mathematicians say things mostly along the lines of “I don’t understand any of this it’s way over my head”. Are we missing the forest for the trees here? If a math problem falls in the forest but nobody is around to understand it does it make a sound? How can we possibly make use of these breakthroughs if we don’t understand them? How coul…

I don't mean to be dismissive, are these just old puzzles with no practical use whatsoever?

So a good fraction of famous old math puzzles with no practical use are famous because they are in some way similar to problems people actually care about. If you can solve the toy problem that is in some way simpler, maybe you can use the same methods to solve the "real" problem.

One open question is whether these machine solutions to these problems will act as springboards to future research, either when given to human mathematicians, or when used to train future machine models.