#128 - How ChatGPT Cracked an 80-Year-Old Math Problem for $1,000

About this episode

The episode discusses how ChatGPT solved an 80-year-old math problem using innovative methods verified by top mathematicians.

Nature headline 5 days ago: 'AI cracks an 80-year-old mathematical challenge.' But the wild part isn't the problem — it's the method. ChatGPT (yes, YOUR ChatGPT) cracked Paul Erdős's Planar Unit Distance problem. Not with better geometry — by reformulating the entire problem into algebraic number theory. Cross-domain synthesis. Cost: ~$1,000 in tokens (= a business trip Zurich-Hannover). Verified by 9 Fields Medal-level mathematicians. Plus: DeepMind's AlphaProof Nexus + Lean counter-punch (9 Erdős problems, 44 conjectures), and what this means for your R&D department.

People in this episode

Host: Malcolm Werchota

Topics covered

• AI
• mathematics
• problem solving
• cross-domain synthesis
• R&D

Keywords

• ChatGPT
• math problem
• Paul Erdős
• algebraic number theory
• DeepMind
• AI
• Fields Medal

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DeepMind, ChatGPT, AlphaProof Nexus

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