OpenAI's FFT result sparks debate: math breakthrough or automated bad academic habits?
JoshPurtell · x · 2026-10-13
A debate erupted over OpenAI's model-driven progress on the faster Fourier transform problem. Critic beenwrekt called it "less a mathematical breakthrough and more a malicious exploit of mathematical traditions", arguing AI excels at automating our worst tendencies — amplifying mechanized academic conventions no individual can deviate from: "AI can now write useless theory papers."
JoshPurtell pushed back: like Yoav and others, he sees no AI-specific issue beyond the proof being sloppy to an unspecified degree — disliking TCS is taste, but if a model was asked to make progress on a TCS question and did, is that really automating bad tendencies?
A characteristic AI-community clash over whether AI-driven research is progress or mass-produced filler papers.
Related event: OpenAI's Faster FFT Claim Sparks Academic Backlash(4 posts)→
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