Thread

How do we prevent mathemathics from devolving into the Medieval Era of secrecy?

158 points · 146 comments · jjgreen

lacker · 1789688599 · focus · HN ↗
I have seen two worries recently:
1. People will publish so much frontier mathematics, humans won't be able to understand it all
2. Frontier mathematics will all be kept secret
Fortunately, these seem like they can't both happen at once.
1. rkagerer · 1789703042 · focus · HN ↗
  Was the term "frontier mathematics" always in use, or did it just become a thing after the advent of contemporary AI?
  1. pixl97 · 1789703844 · focus · HN ↗
    It's been in use far longer than LLMs. Thought I'm not exactly sure when it came into common use. I'm pretty sure I've heard the term on Nova decades ago.
    w4der · 1789717879 · focus · HN ↗
    Google trends shows it spiking last year: <a href="https://trends.google.com/explore?q=frontier%20mathematics&date=all&geo=Worldwide" rel="nofollow">https://trends.google.com/explore?q=frontier%20mathematics&d...
    pixl97 · 1789742409 · focus · HN ↗
    Yea, for sure AI brought it into the mainstream. The terms existed for a long time, but the number of people actually involved in it are really low so it's not going to show up much on trends unless something big happens in the field.

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