zlacker

>>nl+(OP)
I predict the way AI will be useful in science from the perspective of mathematics is by figuring out combinatorially complex solutions to problems that would otherwise not be interesting to (or far too complex to be comprehended by) humans. With such capabilities it could be imagined then that the AI will be useful for designing super materials, or doing fancy things with biology / medicine, and generally finding useful patterns in complex systems.

>>WhyOhW+Zo2
But abstract mathematics doesn’t care about solutions to problems; it cares about understanding problem spaces. I do not think current AI helps with that.

Problems like the one discussed also aren’t interesting to applied mathematicians, either, because of lack of applications.

But yes, if this kind of AI produces new materials, solves diseases, etc. they will be very useful. We wouldn’t care whether they arrived at those solutions through valid reasoning, though. A sloppy AI that has better ‘guesses/intuitions’ than humans or that can guess and check ‘guesses/intuitions' for correctness faster would be very useful.

>>Someon+lK2
And engineers don’t care about abstract mathematics: we care about math that solves problems. Being able to solve more problems with less human-years of effort is a big win.