Thought experiment: if AI explains a black hole in terms no human understands, did knowledge grow?

chrisalbon · x · 2026-10-19

chrisalbon poses a thought experiment: in 2030, a scientist collects data on a distant black hole with no practical value to Earth and asks an AI to explain it. The AI returns an explanation no human can understand. Has knowledge been increased? It probes whether unverifiable, human-incomprehensible AI output counts as knowledge at all.

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