Re:“Math 2.0” will need to value mathematical progress more ...
by xyzzy123 on Thursday October 08, 2026 @02:45AM
(#50002518)
Right. What I not sure about - even for builders - even when the results are technically verifiable, the details can still matter. AI is really good at proving or building a slightly different thing than you thought you asked for, and if you're not at a level where you can understand key details of the formalisation of your ask, you cannot safely use the results.
Without human understanding you also might literally have no words for the thing you would otherwise want to ask for.
I think it'll be wildy useful but I also suspect human competence will still matter.
Re:“Math 2.0” will need to value mathematical progress more ...
by MrToadMan on Thursday October 08, 2026 @02:56AM
(#50002577)
Apart from the fact that elite sports are funded probably at least 10x more than pure mathematics research.
Re:“Math 2.0” will need to value mathematical progress more ...
by bonoboTP on Thursday October 08, 2026 @04:32AM
(#50003263)
That's mainly for national pride reasons like the Olympics, world championships etc. Others are profit driven when there is spectator interest.
So make mathematicians proudly wear their flag colors and sing the anthem while lecturing to cheering spectators. Might work.
In my view, over the last century, math has turned into an intellectual analogue of extreme bodybuilding competitions. A navel gazing runaway optimization in making useless stuff just to demonstrate cleverness. That's fine, why not. But society has no obligation to fund that, just as it doesn't fund other extreme hobbies. Ideally if we ever get something like UBI, math can be still their hobby.