Ask HN: Does this AI generated physics paper make any sense? [pdf] (opens in new tab)

(github.com)

1 pointsn00b1011y ago6 comments

6 comments

I spent the weekend running ChatGPT in a loop on a theoretical physics paper. This was the result. It seems to have come up with some type of conjecture.

I'm wondering if anyone who understands Langlands program mathematics or Quantum Field Theory can opine on whether it's gibberish or makes real sense.

It seems interesting, however I have only a cursory understanding of Quantum Field Theory and don't know anything about the Langlands program.

gus_massa1y ago

My guess is that it's gibberish, but I'd need like a week to read it and be sure.

After only skimming, it has too many bullet point list and too few formulas. Usually math and physics papers have a wall of text with some formulas in between.

jprete1y ago

I'm not a physicist but as soon as I saw it I thought that it would be very costly (in physicist time) to distinguish it from a real physics paper. The difference between this and the output of a physics crank may well just be how fast they can produce it.

1 more reply

n00b101OP1y ago

I could have spent time getting it to generate more formulas and diagrams. It's not difficult since it generates LaTeX, but I wouldn't be able to understand them.

According to ChatGPT the paper makes sense to ChatGPT but isn't rigorous enough. Then if I put that into a feedback loop, it starts producing "more rigorous" output.

It's a little concerning so I decided to stop here. It seems it could produce a wall of mathematical text that would take a professional a year to read.

fruktmix1y ago

What was your process of generating this paper?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

6 comments

n00b101OP1y ago

I spent the weekend running ChatGPT in a loop on a theoretical physics paper. This was the result. It seems to have come up with some type of conjecture.

I'm wondering if anyone who understands Langlands program mathematics or Quantum Field Theory can opine on whether it's gibberish or makes real sense.

It seems interesting, however I have only a cursory understanding of Quantum Field Theory and don't know anything about the Langlands program.

gus_massa1y ago

My guess is that it's gibberish, but I'd need like a week to read it and be sure.

After only skimming, it has too many bullet point list and too few formulas. Usually math and physics papers have a wall of text with some formulas in between.

jprete1y ago

1 more reply

n00b101OP1y ago

I could have spent time getting it to generate more formulas and diagrams. It's not difficult since it generates LaTeX, but I wouldn't be able to understand them.

According to ChatGPT the paper makes sense to ChatGPT but isn't rigorous enough. Then if I put that into a feedback loop, it starts producing "more rigorous" output.

It's a little concerning so I decided to stop here. It seems it could produce a wall of mathematical text that would take a professional a year to read.

fruktmix1y ago

What was your process of generating this paper?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse