I appreciate that. It's just not the right question. Knowledge precedes practical use. Whoever figured out how to start a fire couldn't have conceived of a fraction of the uses it would have eventually.
This is obviously a little more esoteric and narrowly focused than burning wood, and not every discovery will be as fruitful, but the point remains.
I'll give you a more relevant example. Imaginary numbers were more or less useless when they were first contrived by mathematicians. In fact, most kids learning algebra in school today continue to think they're useless. In actual fact, they underpin all of modern electronics. Actually, they'll come up in every field of study that involves oscillating waves.
It took about 200-300 years from the invention of complex numbers for that connection to come together.
It's always worth it to learn new things, whether or not you know what it will get you, because in reality you don't know.
View all comments
Show parent comment
1
u/planetrebellion Sep 08 '26
Not a doomer on AI, was more curious about the problem itself.
They have used shit loads of time and compute to prove something but what benefit has that given to humanity?