OpenAI 成立数学咨询小组，其 AI 已解决逾 100 个公开难题

周一，OpenAI 宣布成立一个由新泽西州普林斯顿高等研究院（Institute for Advanced Study，IAS）托管的新独立咨询小组。该小组名为数学与人工智能咨询小组，旨在让数学家对公司面向数学的研究拥有更多发言权。

该公告写道：“该小组将充当连接数学界与更广泛公众的桥梁，让数学家能够就我们如何推进工作发出自己的声音。”

这一宣布发布之前，OpenAI 刚刚突然公布了纳维-斯托克斯千禧年大奖难题的一项解答。作为新小组公告的一部分，OpenAI 还声称，同一内部模型已经解决了涵盖数学大多数领域的 100 多个其他公开问题。

许多知名数学家对这些成果涌现的狂热速度表示质疑。本月早些时候，25 位菲尔兹奖得主签署了一封公开信，认为 AI 实验室正为了争相提出著名数学问题的解答而相互较劲，并威胁到他们的智力劳动。

顾名思义，OpenAI 的新小组将主要发挥咨询作用，评估新成果的重要性并协调其发布。成员不会获得报酬，但可以主动提供建议、公开表达自身观点，并自行决定成员构成，这使该小组在一定程度上独立于公司。

不过，该小组不会被赋予放缓或改变 OpenAI 持续进行的数学研究的权限。正如博客文章所说：“该小组不负责就我们应如何把握内部数学进展的节奏向我们提出建议。”

高等研究院也在其自身公告中强调了这一点。该研究院在一份新闻稿中表示：“尽管我们将提供建议，但我们对任何 AI 公司均不拥有决策权，任何公司所作决定的责任将由该公司承担。”

九位知名数学家被任命为该小组的首批成员。值得注意的是，其中只有一位成员——IAS 的 Camillo De Lellis——也签署了菲尔兹奖得主的公开信。

On Monday, OpenAI announced a new independent advisory group hosted at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Called the Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, the group is meant to give mathematicians more input into the company’s math-oriented research.

“This group will serve as a bridge to the mathematical community and broader public, giving mathematicians a voice in how we move forward,” the post reads.

The announcement comes after the abrupt publication of a solution to the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize problem. As part of the announcement of the new group, OpenAI also claims that the same internal model has resolved more than 100 additional open problems across most areas of mathematics.

Many prominent mathematicians have taken issue with the frenzied pace of those results. Earlier this month, 25 Fields Medal-winning mathematicians signed an open letter arguing that AI labs are threatening their intellectual work as they seek to one-up each other with solutions to famous math problems.

True to its name, OpenAI’s new group will mostly serve in an advisory capacity, assessing the significance of new results and coordinating their release. While members won’t be paid, they can offer unsolicited advice, go public with their views, and control their own membership, giving them a measure of independence from the company.

However, the group won’t be given leeway to slow down or redirect OpenAI’s ongoing mathematical research. As the blog post puts it, “the group will not be responsible for advising us on how to pace our internal progress on mathematics.”

The Institute for Advanced Study emphasized this point in its own announcement. “Although we will give advice, we do not have decision making power at any AI company, and the responsibility for the decisions made by any company will rest with that company,” said the institute in a press release.

Nine prominent mathematicians have been named as initial members of the group. Notably, only one of the members — IAS’s Camillo De Lellis — also signed the Fields Medalists’ letter.