OpenAI Says Its AI Models Made Discoveries in Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics
Artificial intelligence company OpenAI has announced that its AI models have made several scientific discoveries in mathematics, computer science and physics. The company made the announcement on Monday.
According to OpenAI, the three new discoveries concern the fields of harmonic analysis, complexity theory and quantum field theory.
Among the discoveries, the AI models proved the local smoothing conjecture, one of the central propositions of harmonic analysis, in every spatial dimension for the first time, according to OpenAI.
Harmonic analysis is a branch of mathematics that studies how complex signals and functions can be broken down into elementary waves. Researchers in the field had previously proved the theory only in three dimensions.
Alex Iosevich, a professor of mathematics at the University of Rochester who specialises in harmonic analysis, said OpenAI appeared to have cracked the conjecture in a historic development.
Iosevich said the conjecture was formulated by his PhD adviser, Chris Sogge, so it is near and dear to his heart, and the news was a shock at first. He said he was now filled with joy and optimism, because the scientific enterprise as a whole would make giant leaps as a result of the AI revolution.
He said he expected the field of theoretical mathematics to change drastically due to AI. He also said he felt a twinge of sadness, and that many theoretical mathematicians he knows feel the same way, but he firmly believed those feelings would soon give way to the realisation that there is so much that can now be accomplished.
Iosevich added that problems in pure mathematics did not arise in a vacuum, that many of them came out of concrete physical considerations, and that these connections can now be explored rapidly and decisively.
According to OpenAI's announcement, its models also disproved the Exponential Time Hypothesis, which relates to the time it takes to solve complex computational problems.
The models also provided mathematically rigorous proof of the existence of quantum chromodynamics, which studies the interaction of quarks and gluons, according to the company.
The ChatGPT creator said it had reached out to scientists outside the company to turn its raw research data into scientific understanding.
The San Francisco-based company said it decided on several different methods for releasing the findings based on consultations with three expert groups chosen to act as shepherds. While the groups collaborating on the mathematics and computer science problems opted to make the AI-produced data public immediately, the physics group decided to defer the release in order to write up their own interpretation of the findings.
OpenAI said all of these approaches involve tradeoffs. On the one hand, the collaborations empower experts to unpack the results and contextualise them in the broader academic community; on the other hand, choosing initial shepherds necessarily shapes who gets involved first and creates asymmetry of information. The $852 billion start-up said it welcomed feedback on how to broaden participation and make the process more useful. Its announcement is the latest in a series of claimed scientific breakthroughs credited to AI.
Last month, Claude creator Anthropic announced the discovery of a new enzyme said to resemble CRISPR, the groundbreaking gene editing mechanism used in treating conditions such as cancer and sickle cell disease. Anthropic's announcement drew mixed reactions among scientists: while some researchers hailed the finding as an exciting development, others suggested the AI company had exaggerated its significance.
