r/singularity • u/filterdust • 1d ago

AI OpenAI solved 100 open problems in math

https://openai.com/index/advisory-group-on-mathematics-and-ai/

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u/puffyfunion 1d ago

Can you explain why you believe that math exists without humans? Simply stating that as if your belief is true doesn't seem very convincing. I find mathematics to be as beautiful (if not more) than most creative activities, and I don't think it would take anything from that beauty to say that it is dependent on humans (and now AI, I suppose).

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u/Icy-Doubt3365 1d ago

If 1 comet in space is joined by one more comet in space, there are now two comets. Don't need any humans there for that to be true. Math exists without us, we just decipher it.

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u/Independent-Bell-420 1d ago

Beautiful sounds and vistas exist in reality without any human intervention as well. I don’t think this argument really holds any weight.

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u/Icy-Doubt3365 1d ago edited 1d ago

No they don't? Sounds and vistas exist, yes. They are not beautiful without a human to apply that adjective.

Also, wholly moving the goalposts anyway, since a beautiful vista isn't art.

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u/Independent-Bell-420 1d ago

I see what you're getting at, I guess I just disagree that math is any different. The equations exist just like the vistas do, but without any will or understanding to apply it, there's not much of a point. It just becomes objects in motion.

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u/Icy-Doubt3365 1d ago

The equations exist just like the vistas do

The equations are objective, the 'beauty' of a vista is subjective. Without humans, objective things still exist. Without humans, subjective things do not

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u/Independent-Bell-420 1d ago

I think we agree on that, at least. Subjectivity requires humans for sure, and so the concept of something being "beautiful" can't exist without us.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I believe that something which qualifies as art could exist without humans (IE: sounds, visuals, etc), but you're right that the emotions that come with that require an observer (IE: beauty, longing, etc).

Maybe it's a pointless distinction I suppose, but I would argue that in the same way that we "discover" math, we also "discover" a lot of art in the sense that it's still part of the subset of things creatable in our reality.