When OpenAI announced its AI had solved one of the world’s toughest math problems earlier this month, its tone was celebratory:

“A major goal of our work is to empower scientists to advance research and technology that benefits all of humanity,” the company wrote.

But mathematicians say that, so far, humanity has learned very little from the solution the company’s AI model purportedly found. Although they believe the proof to be technically correct, the dense, 166-page manuscript drafted by AI is proving to be a difficult read.

“So far it’s been very difficult to really extract any human understanding from this new AI proof,” said James Maynard, a mathematician at the University of Oxford.

“The paper is not written for humans,” said Javier Gómez-Serrano, a mathematician at Brown University who uses AI in his own research. He said he believes the proof could help advance the field after “some serious re-writing,” but “as of today, the paper doesn’t teach us much.”

The solution came as AI appears to be rapidly gaining mathematical insights. AI has exploded onto the math scene over the past six months, academic mathematicians contacted by NPR said. For the first time, large language models appear capable of producing real results that could lead to new mathematical discoveries.

But few see OpenAI’s announcement, which came as human mathematicians were closing in on a solution, as an example of how AI and mathematicians can work together.

“This whole episode could have been a wonderful proof-of-concept of the power of collaboration between humans and AI,” said Maynard, who signed a statement by 25 winners of the prestigious Fields Medal. The statement, which was published September 11, decried “misaligned goals” between the AI companies and the mathematics community.

“Unfortunately, because of the decisions of humans involved, it became this scrappy, messy battle,” he said.

Rush to discovery

The problem OpenAI apparently solved is considered among the most important unanswered questions in mathematics.