OpenAI's Astra solved problems that stumped mathematicians for decades — is their field obsolete
openai's model astra solved 10 long-standing math problems, sparking excitement and existential dread among mathematicians about their future relevance.
openai announced that its unreleased model, astra, successfully solved 10 long-standing mathematical problems that had confounded academics for decades, ranging from high-dimensional sphere packing to error-correcting codes. while experts like fields medalist james maynard are excited by the potential to accelerate discovery, there is growing apprehension that ai will render human mathematicians obsolete or devalue their contributions. the situation highlights a tension over credit attribution, as seen in disputes regarding the non-sofic groups result, signaling a looming crisis of identity and purpose for the profession.