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Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
11–20 of 366 posts
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#12> However, the declaration argues math is more than a machine for producing correct answers. There might be more to maths than that, but that is definitely the most important part. I love science funding. But not because it's a jobs program for nerds.
No, it's not the most important part. It can be argued that most important part is asking the right questions
I agree with both OP and you
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#13>and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake
Except when someone hands you a magic button that just gives you knowledge?[at least in the framing of this "warning"] Then it's about peoples' livelihoods, about "culture", etc?
"Computer" used to be a job. Did science on the whole lose or gain by making these clerks obsolete?
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#14My vague prediction right now is that in five years LLMs will be heavily used by universities in grant-funded math research but nobody else will be able to afford it, much like supercomputer clusters 25 years ago.
Sounds very good for regular joe software dev, almost too good to be true
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#15> However, the declaration argues math is more than a machine for producing correct answers. There might be more to maths than that, but that is definitely the most important part. I love science funding. But not because it's a jobs program for nerds.
No, it's not the most important part. It can be argued that most important part is asking the right questions
Assume someone solves P=NP
Do you think Stephen Cook and Leonid Levin deserve more credit than whoever solved it?
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#16I've said it before, but there's a massive risk that we simply stop educating researchers. So much of a Ph.D revolves around the person learning how to do research.
They learn how to read papers and literature rigorously. They get low-hanging fruits to practice on, which can take months. Their funding doesn't come from thin air either.
So what happens when the group leaders would rather spend money on compute, and get models to solve the low-hanging fruit? Which the models could very well do in mere hours, compared to months.
Nor does it help that publishing is the number 1 measure in academia. Furthermore, the access to compute and capital could end up be the defining factor between researchers and research groups.
It is basically the "junior problem", but even more severe.
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#17> However, the declaration argues math is more than a machine for producing correct answers. There might be more to maths than that, but that is definitely the most important part. I love science funding. But not because it's a jobs program for nerds.
For most engineers a mathemetician is a machine for producing correct algorithms, like a chef is a machine for producing tasty food. In both cases that overlooks the human element, but that's a critical skill for a limited mind with finite resources to grok infinite complexity. You can read that as permission to be an asshole or a neccesary compromise.
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#18> However, the declaration argues math is more than a machine for producing correct answers. There might be more to maths than that, but that is definitely the most important part. I love science funding. But not because it's a jobs program for nerds.
People need jobs. What's wrong with nerds having jobs via a program?
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#19I've said it before, but there's a massive risk that we simply stop educating researchers. So much of a Ph.D revolves around the person learning how to do research. They learn how to read papers and literature rigorously. They get low-hanging fruits to practice on, which can take months. Their funding doesn't come from thin air either. So what happens when the group leaders would rather spend money on compute, and ge…
> Furthermore, the access to compute and capital could end up be the defining factor between researchers and research groups.
That's not new - especially in the experimental sciences ( ie perhaps more than maths ) - where the ability to have access to the latest kit is often what determines success - a huge amount of science progress is driven by new experimental technology rather than smart people thinking beautiful thoughts.
Re: Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground
#20My vague prediction right now is that in five years LLMs will be heavily used by universities in grant-funded math research but nobody else will be able to afford it, much like supercomputer clusters 25 years ago.
Seems way too binary a statement. I am guessing you mean "frontier LLMs". Small models keep getting better and better and if you make domain specific ones, it will likely be even smaller. Companies renting smaller LLMs or using enterprise models might very well remain in the future. Consumers getting LLMs whose performance dont improve (think gpt 6 forever on premium or gpt 4.x on a cheap tier) might well become a thing.