Comment by zozbot234
2 days ago
Uh, this was exactly a "remix" of similar proofs that most likely were in the training data. It's just that some people misunderestimate how compelling that "remix" ability can be, especially when paired with a direct awareness of formal logical errors in one's attempted proof and how they might be addressed in the typical case.
Then what sort of math problem would be a milestone for you where an AI was doing something novel?
Or are you just saying that solving novel problems involves remixing ideas? Well, that's true for human problem solving too.
> Then what sort of math problem would be a milestone for you where an AI was doing something novel?
What? If we're discussing novel synthesis, and it's being contrasted with answer-from-search / answer-from-remix.. the problem does not matter. Only the answer and the originality of the approach. Connecting two fields that were not previously connected is novel, or applying a new kind of technique to an old problem. Recognizing that an unsolved problem is very much like a solved one is search / remix. So what happened here? Tao says it is
> is largely consistent with other recent demonstrations of AI using existing methods to resolve Erdos problem
Existing. Methods. Tao also says "This is a demonstration of the genuine increase in capability of these tools in recent months". This is the sentence everyone will focus on, so what is that capability?
> the more interesting capability revealed by these events is the ability to rapidly write and rewrite new versions of a text as needed, even if one was not the original author of the argument.
Rejoice! But rejoice for the right reasons, and about what actually happened. Style and voice transformations, interesting new capabilities for fuzzy search. Correct usage of external tools for heavy-lifting with symbolics. And yes, actual problem solving. Novel techniques, creativity, originality though? IDK, sounds kind of optimistic based on the detail here.
If you squint hard enough, every new thing is an example of "answer-from-search / answer-from-remix". Solving any Erdős problem in this manner was largely seen as unthinkable just a year ago.
>the problem does not matter.
Really? All of the other Erdős problems? Millennium Problems? Anything at all? This gets us directly into the territory of "nothing can convince us otherwise".
2 replies →