Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Erdos Problem 1196: Can AI now solve maths that no human can?
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Erdos Problem 1196: Can AI now solve maths that no human can?
It’s said that AI could soon be coming for the jobs of artists, lawyers, and software engineers. But it might now also be threatening a role at the height of academia – are pure mathematicians safe?
Last month, a Stanford mathematician woke up to an email, claiming to have the solution to a problem he'd been working on for seven years - a 60-year-old conundrum known as "Erdos Problem 1196".
The answer had been generated in just 80 minutes - by ChatGPT.
Since the end of last year, AI has been providing solutions to a number of novel maths problems, but Problem 1196 is the first to raise eyebrows within the mathematical community.
In this episode, we talk to the mathematicians who've worked on Problem 1196 and find out what the rise of AI could mean for the future of their field.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Katie Steckles, Mathematician and communicator
Jared Duker Lichtman, Szegő Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University
Liam Price, amateur mathematician
Credits:
Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producer: Josh McMinn
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Dave O'Neill
Editor: Richard Vadon
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.7
772772 ratings
It’s said that AI could soon be coming for the jobs of artists, lawyers, and software engineers. But it might now also be threatening a role at the height of academia – are pure mathematicians safe?
Last month, a Stanford mathematician woke up to an email, claiming to have the solution to a problem he'd been working on for seven years - a 60-year-old conundrum known as "Erdos Problem 1196".
The answer had been generated in just 80 minutes - by ChatGPT.
Since the end of last year, AI has been providing solutions to a number of novel maths problems, but Problem 1196 is the first to raise eyebrows within the mathematical community.
In this episode, we talk to the mathematicians who've worked on Problem 1196 and find out what the rise of AI could mean for the future of their field.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Katie Steckles, Mathematician and communicator
Jared Duker Lichtman, Szegő Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University
Liam Price, amateur mathematician
Credits:
Presenter: Charlotte McDonald
Producer: Josh McMinn
Series producer: Tom Colls
Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound mix: Dave O'Neill
Editor: Richard Vadon
More shows like More or Less
View all
Global News Podcast
7,699 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
374 Listeners
Business Daily
517 Listeners
Newshour
1,056 Listeners
World Business Report
294 Listeners
In Our Time
5,537 Listeners
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
2,093 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
1,926 Listeners
The Bottom Line
39 Listeners
Page 94: The Private Eye Podcast
410 Listeners
BBC Inside Science
423 Listeners
Science Weekly
414 Listeners
Curious Cases
762 Listeners
The Life Scientific
231 Listeners
The Briefing Room
66 Listeners
Newscast
675 Listeners
Evil Genius with Russell Kane
371 Listeners
Have You Heard George's Podcast?
234 Listeners
Sliced Bread
141 Listeners
Elis James and John Robins
315 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,160 Listeners
Americast
733 Listeners
Sport's Strangest Crimes
65 Listeners
Uncanny
820 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics
3,243 Listeners
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley
536 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics: Leading
764 Listeners
Believe in Magic
638 Listeners
The Global Story
385 Listeners
Miss Me?
234 Listeners
The History Podcast
58 Listeners
Rory Stewart: The Long History of...
79 Listeners
The History Bureau
71 Listeners