Hacker News: missyougowers

New comment by missyougowers in "An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry"

missyougowers — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:42:33 +0000

I'll let the mathematicians in the field determine the level of "interest" in this result, but saying "you may want to make sure you are sitting down" is pure puffery.

> has a motivation to "market" the accomplishment as much as possible

I am so sick of HN promoting unethical behaviour as virtuous due to it's financialization worship at the foot of "valuations".

> but surely you agree it IS a remarkable achievement?

If you could define the bounds of "remarkable" I could answer this question.

New comment by missyougowers in "An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry"

missyougowers — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:35:58 +0000

This is a popular HNism.

Focusing solely on "capabilities" is the irrational thinking.

Asbestos is the most "capable" material where extreme thermal, chemical and electrical resistance is required.

New comment by missyougowers in "An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry"

missyougowers — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:31:50 +0000

Tao was absent from the formal verification circles until GenAI orgs saw formal verification as a way to legitimize their obscene existence, and since has been making the rounds on the podcast bro circuit pumping up these GenAI orgs.

His university is deeply entrenched with the GenAI org that released this result both with having alumni on staff, integrating their tools into the school's processes and curriculum, and paying for lots of grants. (I understand Tao is absent from this specific announcement, perhaps because it found its solution without utilizing formal verification tooling)

Is it unreasonable to assume he's feeling pressure to do so?

Gowers similarly appeared largely uninterested in this current crop of GenAI until some months ago when he announced a 9M$ fund to develop "AI for Maths" and since then his social media has included GenAI promotion.

Now he is being asked about this result and his first sentence is:

> I do not have the background in algebraic number theory to make a detailed assessment of the disproof of Erdős’s unit-distance conjecture, so instead I shall make some tentative comments about what it tells us about the current capabilities of AI.

Why did this GenAI org reach out to mathematicians outside of the discipline that this result addresses?

Why did they respond?!

New comment by missyougowers in "An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry"

missyougowers — Wed, 20 May 2026 22:21:25 +0000

Unfortunately Gowers has taken Tao's lead on this one.

Gowers has one of my favourite video series about how he approaches a problem he is unfamiliar with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byjhpzEoXFs

It is disheartening to see him jump into this GenAI puffery.

I hope these GenAI labs are paying Tao handsomely for legitimizing their slop, but more likely he's feeling pressure from his University to promote and work with these labs.

My guess is Gowers wants in on that action, or his University does.

Either way, it makes me sad. If its self motivated... even sadder.