Security researcher Marcel Böhme on 'ephemeral vs eternal' research problems in the AI era
mboehme_ · x · 2026-10-25
Security researcher Marcel Böhme proposes classifying research problems into two categories:
- Ephemeral problems: those with an expiry date—fixing Python bugs, public sentiment on GenAI copyright, the fastest crypto hash implementation. Important and challenging until technology or policy moves on.
- Eternal problems: technology-independent, solved once and forever.
The thread debates whether AI makes fundamental problems 'less' fundamental, with Böhme arguing researchers should prioritize identifying eternal ones in the AI era.
Related event: Researchers Debate Eternal vs Ephemeral Problems in AI-Era Science(8 posts)→
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