Executive Summary

• An amateur used ChatGPT to solve an Erdős problem.
• The problem was solved using a large language model.
• This achievement has significant implications for the field of mathematics.

The Buzz Score

The Internet’s Verdict: 70% Hyped, 30% Skeptical

Background on Erdős Problems

Paul Erdős was a famous mathematician who documented mathematical problems.

For the uninitiated, Paul Erdős was a pretty famous but very eccentric mathematician who lived for most of the 1900s. He had a habit of seeking out and documenting mathematical problems people were working on.

Using ChatGPT to Solve Erdős Problems

ChatGPT was used to solve an Erdős problem by generating a novel proof.

It seems like alot of scientific advancements occurred by someone applying technique X from one field to problem Y in another. I feel like LLMs are much better at making these types of connections than humans because they 1) know about many more theories/approaches than a single human can 2) don’t need to worry about looking silly in front of their peers.

Implications of the Achievement

The achievement has significant implications for the field of mathematics.

Some Erdős problems are basically trivial using sophisticated techniques that were developed later.

Focus Keyword: Erdős Problem