OpenAI has announced that its AI models have made several scientific discoveries in mathematics, computer science and physics. The AI giant said on Monday that the three new discoveries concerned the fields of harmonic analysis, complexity theory and quantum field theory. Among the discoveries, AI models proved the local smoothing conjecture, one of the central propositions of harmonic analysis, in every spatial dimension for the first time, according to OpenAI.
Researchers in harmonic analysis, a branch of mathematics that studies how complex signals and functions can be broken down into elementary waves, had previously only proved the theory in three dimensions. Alex Iosevich, a professor of mathematics at the University of Rochester who specialises in harmonic analysis, said OpenAI appeared to have “cracked” the conjecture in a “historic development”. The ChatGPT creator said it had reached out to scientists outside the company to turn its “raw research data into scientific understanding”.
The San Francisco-based company said it decided on several different methods for releasing the findings based on consultations with three expert groups chosen to act as “shepherds”. While the groups collaborating on the mathematics and computer science problems opted to make the AI-produced data public immediately, the physics group decided to defer the release in order to write up their own interpretation of the findings, OpenAI said. We welcome feedback on how to broaden participation and make this process more useful.” OpenAI’s announcement is the latest in a series of claimed scientific breakthroughs credited to AI.
Last month, Claude creator Anthropic announced the discovery of a new enzyme said to resemble CRISPR, the groundbreaking gene editing mechanism used in treating conditions such as cancer and sickle cell disease. Anthropic’s announcement drew mixed reactions among scientists. While some researchers hailed the finding as an exciting development, others suggested that the AI company had exaggerated its significance.
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