Comment by robinhouston
1 hour ago
I don't think that's actually the real problem. Along with the progress in answering mathematical questions, recent progress on AI-powered autoformalisation has been astonishing. All the recent AI discoveries have been accompanied by Lean proofs.
And, yes: that doesn't absolutely guarantee correctness. The Lean kernel has had soundness bugs, and may have some still. But it's pretty strong evidence of correctness nevertheless.
The concern among mathematicians is not mainly that they doubt the correctness of any of these discoveries, but that human understanding may be devalued.
I am not that worried, but rather just observing. Humanity is about to enter the phase when we will be using things based on ideas no human ever properly understands. This thought … disturbing, somehow?
It is perfectly valid counterpoint to say that we already do it. We everyday use myriad of things, tools, and software we have 0 clue how it operates. But for us as humans it was reassuring that we know that at least there are a few other alive humans who know it, who create it and who can explain it.
With AI soon that comforting zone will be gone.