Mathematicians push back on 'solved problems = progress' as AI tests the metric
_onionesque · x · 2026-10-10
In a discussion on what counts as mathematical progress, the author argues mathematicians' recent unease partly resists the idea that "problem solved = progress": pure math has stress-tested its abstractions over centuries, with problems serving only as signposts. The myopia came from goals being aligned enough to look indistinguishable — a confusion that doesn't hold in industrial problem-solving, with implications for how we gauge AI progress.
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