Math’s midlife crisis: AI solves in four days what stumped mathematicians for a century

New York, September 18 - Artificial intelligence (AI) from OpenAI has made headlines by solving the Navier-Stokes equations, a century-old mathematical problem, in just four days, sparking debate about the future role of mathematicians in research. The Navier-Stokes equations, which describe the motion of fluid substances, have baffled generations of mathematicians.

UCLA professor Terence Tao, a Fields Medal winner, expressed feeling overwhelmed by the existential crisis in his field. Steven Strogatz, a Cornell University professor, stated that if mathematicians focused on questions AI can solve, those problems would be easy. However, Antonio Auffinger, a Northwestern University math professor, noted that AI now produces coherent arguments without going off course.

Elon Musk, through SpaceXAI, predicted that mathematics would become trivial for AI, but this latest achievement involved following the steps of previous mathematicians. Benjamin Antieau, a Northwestern University math professor, highlighted the AI's reliance on prior work, while Tao criticized the lack of new insights and collaborations.

Anima Anandkumar's team managed to solve a simplified version of the Navier-Stokes equations using a physics-informed neural network (PINN) model, emphasizing that AI still requires human input in designing and testing.