Bridge design as a 'micro-idea': how engineering optimization has long automated ideas
SoloGen · x · 2026-11-09
As a concrete example of the earlier claim, SoloGen points out that the architectural design of a bridge is an "idea": by optimizing its parameters, we effectively produce a better idea — a "micro-idea." Such a design wouldn't seem profound in the 21st century, but would have been considered a good idea in the 19th century.
Related event: SoloGen argues machines can discover hyper-ideas beyond human thought(5 posts)→
More from AGI Musings
- METR says it has 'convincing evidence' AI speeds up research — but the details are redacted — peterwildeford · 2026-11-09
- OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman: frontier models with test-time compute are becoming the engine of scientific discovery — gdb · 2026-11-09
- Long-term memory vs. search is like L1 cache vs. RAM, argues zetalyrae — zetalyrae · 2026-11-09
- AI is eroding traditional moats: years of advantage now replicated in days — DeryaTR_ · 2026-11-09
- Epoch AI: 2027 chip supply could run 30–170M frontier AI agents, or 1.9B cheaper ones — Dr_Singularity · 2026-11-09
- White paper: moving beyond the AI compute arms race as big tech faces historic spending losses — ReportProfessional57 · 2026-11-09