{
  "id": 6151990,
  "title": "I made a free AI chatbot solve a decade-long maths problem in 13 minutes",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/i-made-a-free-ai-chatbot-solve-a-decade-long-maths-problem-in-13",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-07T16:09:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Scientist",
    "slug": "new-scientist",
    "url": "https://www.newscientist.com/article/2587148-i-made-a-free-ai-chatbot-solve-a-decade-long-maths-problem-in-13-minutes/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a surprising turn of events, a free AI chatbot, ChatGPT, managed to solve a decades-old mathematics problem in just 13 minutes. Mathematicians had been searching for a set of five dice that could be thrown to decide who goes first in a board game, with each dice having equal chances of winning and no ties. This search had taken over a decade, but it finally yielded a solution. The chatbot's solution to the problem was presented to Eric Harshbarger, one of the researchers working on the five-dice problem. Harshbarger confirmed the correctness of the AI's numbers. While the AI-generated solution was not particularly elegant, it was indeed a remarkable achievement. Harshbarger and his colleagues had already managed to adapt their solution to create a six-dice one, but the current six-dice solution is still far from practical. This breakthrough showcases the growing power of AI in solving mathematical problems, even those that have stumped human mathematicians for years.",
  "summary": "After months covering the shocking rise of AI mathematics, reporter Matthew Sparkes decided to put a free chatbot to the test – and was shocked at the speed at which it solved an outstanding problem",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}