OpenAI Model Cracks 80-Year-Old Math Conjecture, Reshaping Research
机器之心 · wechat · 2026-08-18
The article reviews the breakthrough progress of AI in mathematics in 2026. An unreleased OpenAI model overturned an 80-year-old conjecture by Erdős, finding counterexamples previously unimaginable. This marks the first time AI has produced a historically significant mathematical proof, triggering a paradigm shift in mathematical research. It details how the Erdős problem community became a testing ground for AI capabilities, and how amateurs and top mathematicians like Terence Tao collaborated with AI assistance. DeepMind also intervened systematically, solving multiple legacy problems at low cost. As AI surpasses humans in areas like number theory and combinatorics, top mathematicians face career crossroads, and academia is undergoing a quiet revolution driven by computing power.
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