OpenAI announces 722 mathematical discoveries in one go

OpenAI has dropped 722 mathematical papers proving and disproving a range of problems – a scale that academics say is as impressive as it is baffling.

For months, the ability of AI models to tackle mathematical problems has been increasing. As recently as 2019, AI models struggled to achieve a passing grade on GCSE mathematics papers. Last month, however, OpenAI solved a problem related to the Navier-Stokes equations of fluid dynamics, which was one of the toughest and most enduring puzzles in mathematics.

Having achieved impressive depth, OpenAI has seemingly now opted for breadth, releasing hundreds of mathematical discoveries in one fell swoop. The company didn’t name the AI made the discoveries, saying only that it was an “internal frontier model”.

Francis Johnson at University College London worked for many years on Wall’s D(2) problem – one of the hundreds of puzzles solved in OpenAI’s tranche of papers.

“I worked on this problem for 25 years. I produced two books on it. I, personally, gave up,” says Johnson. “I’m surprised that [AI] has done it quite so quickly, but I’m not surprised that it’s done it.”

Johnson recounts working with AI models in recent months and being “astonished with the sophistication and clarity of the analysis that they gave”.