Will LLMs wreck elegant math? O(n²) limits are already crumbling
teortaxesTex · x · 2026-10-06
teortaxesTex muses that LLMs may bulldoze through "elegant" mathematical results long seen as testaments to divine design — turning 3 into 2.95, π into 0.18π — wrecking mathematical aesthetics much as irrational numbers wrecked Pythagoras. The quoted reply adds a concrete CS angle: O(n²) once looked like a hard limit, a law of nature, but O(n^1.9992) breaks it. Where is the boundary now? Could it be pushed further? A discussion on AI eroding theoretical limits and mathematical beauty.
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