The Fall of the Theorem Economy

(davidbessis.substack.com)

47 points | by varjag 3 hours ago ago

7 comments

  • jdw64 22 minutes ago

    Someday, there might be mathematics designed for AI. Mathematics that only a tiny fraction of humans can understand, but a different kind of mathematics might emerge. I wonder if we would still call it mathematics.

    What would happen if a non-human layer of mathematics emerged on top of human mathematics? In this article, the distinction between Mathlib and Mathslop might be a precursor to that.

    If models advance enough in the future, and new definitions, compressions, and representational forms that are convenient for AI-to-AI communication emerge, what would happen then? Would mathematics split into Human-facing and Machine-facing branches?

    • pfortuny 14 minutes ago

      Science is not about results, it is about the transmission of knowledge. So long as those AI-"sciences" are just inside AI, they are "engineering", not science.

      I am not dismissing engineering (it moves the world we live in), just trying to clarify what science is.

      Applied fluid dynamics works like that: noone has ever really "verified" that the finite-element method applied to some specific model does converge

      • jvanderbot 10 minutes ago

        Agree, but more specifically Math is clearly about a human understanding structure of things. Math is basically for humans. It's one of the main reasons understandable proof is so important.

        • pfortuny 6 minutes ago

          Well, by "understanding" I mean "understanding by humans", indeed.

  • mojosmojo an hour ago

    Incredibly thoughtful. This essay gives that very rare sense of being well reasoned, gods at forest and trees, and sitting atop a shit ton of domain expertise.

  • j7ake an hour ago

    Does the the ⁡(,1) conjecture paper in annnals of Math say 7 years between submission and acceptance? Insane

  • khalic an hour ago

    I see the AI panic has reached mathematics…