Owain Evans: centuries of formalized math let AI carry the rest of the way
brianryhuang · x · 2026-09-11
Owain Evans traces how humans used evolved neural networks to formalize math over centuries (Dedekind), formalized proof itself (Frege, Russell, Turing), proved simple mechanical systems could be universal, then spent decades scaling computers and algorithms (Von Neumann, Knuth). Computer proof search stayed inefficient until humans modeled neural networks mathematically and simulated them — and now AI is picking up math from there. Quoting Peligrietzer: humans did math so well that math can carry itself the rest of the way.
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