AI Science vs. Human Science: An Essay Inspired by Thurston's Math Philosophy
hugo_larochelle · x · 2026-10-28
Martin Weiss published an essay "AI Science vs. Human Science" on Lacuna, inspired by William Thurston's 1994 classic "On Proof and Progress in Mathematics". Thurston argued mathematics is "amazingly compressible": once you understand something, you can use it as a tool to solve other problems.
The essay uses that lens to examine how AI-driven science differs from human science in generating and compressing knowledge. Mila research director Hugo Larochelle amplified the piece.
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