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Comment by ralph84

9 hours ago

> primarily as a marketing exercise

Like the mathematicians working on famous problems in private until they could claim full credit for something interesting wasn't also a marketing exercise for their own careers. The commercial value (or lack thereof) of a proof doesn't depend on whether it was done by a human or a machine.

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ralph84

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paulhebert  8 hours ago

These mathematicians dedicated their life to math and were working for a long time to achieve the pinnacle of their careers.

OpenAI just burned millions of dollars over a weekend after hearing that someone else was close to solving the problems. Their interest was in their AI system more than the actual math problems.

Don’t you see how that’s different?

  • ralph84  8 hours ago

    I see how it can be devastating to their ego, but no, I don't see a particular difference in a company spending money for clout vs. a person spending time for clout. The underlying motivation is the same.

    • paulhebert  7 hours ago

      Do you really think people dedicate their life to mathematics for clout?

      If clout was the goal I don’t think becoming a lifelong mathematics academic would be the first step

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