Technology and Science22 September, 20262 min read
OpenAI Creates Mathematics And Artificial Intelligence Advisory Group Hosted At Princeton
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OpenAI forms mathematics and AI advisory group hosted at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. The group aims to involve mathematicians more in OpenAI's mathematics-focused research.
OpenAI sets math panel
OpenAI created an external advisory group to evaluate its mathematics research results and discuss how they are disclosed, and the group is hosted at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. TechCrunch said OpenAI announced the Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence after OpenAI’s abrupt publication of a solution to the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize problem.
OpenAI also claimed that the same internal model resolved more than 100 additional open problems across most areas of mathematics, and the advisory group is meant to assess the importance of those results. The Institute for Advanced Study said the group will not be paid by OpenAI and that it provides advice, while decision-making authority at AI companies and responsibility for decisions lie with the companies.
Bridge, but no control
OpenAI described the advisory group as a bridge to the mathematical community and broader public, giving mathematicians a voice in how OpenAI moves forward. The Institute for Advanced Study emphasized that it will give advice but will not have decision making power at any AI company, and it said responsibility for decisions will rest with that company.
OpenAI’s announcement said the group will assess the significance of new results and coordinate the timing and method of disclosures, while members can offer unsolicited advice and publicly state their position even without a request. OpenAI also said the group will not be responsible for advising it on how to pace its internal progress in mathematics, and the group will not be given leeway to slow down or redirect OpenAI’s ongoing mathematical research.
Mathematicians push back
A September 11 open letter titled “A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics” raised concerns about the negative externalities of solving open problems as a benchmark for new AI systems. The letter states that “the goals of the AI companies and the goals of the mathematical community are severely misaligned.”
The initial members of the advisory group include nine mathematicians, and Camillo De Lellis of the Institute for Advanced Study is the only person who signed the Fields Medalists’ letter. OpenAI’s announcement positioned the group as an independent channel that can change its membership as it sees fit, while the company said members will not be paid and will apply independent judgment to challenge OpenAI’s own work.