OpenAI may have solved the Navier-Stokes equation — but mathematics is more than $1 million trophy hunts

Last week, OpenAI shared a proposed solution to the “Navier-Stokes equation” — one of the seven renowned Millenium Prize Problems chosen by the Clay Mathematics Institute that have stumped mathematicians for many years.

Each of these problems offers a $1 million reward.

If OpenAI’s solution is confirmed , this would make it only the second Millennium Prize Problem ever to be solved .

Good.

I hope the Riemann hypothesis is the next problem conquered by AI.

Read more: A new ‘golden age’ of mathematics may be dawning — thanks to AI and human ingenuity I do not mean to convey that these famous open problems are silly or useless — in fact, the Millennium Prize Problems were chosen because of their mathematical importance.

The Navier-Stokes equation describes how fluids such as water and air flow.

However, their cultural status has allowed them to grow far beyond their mathematical importance.

They have become the monuments of our discipline.

They were built for good reasons, are genuinely impressive, but are now obscuring the breadth of modern mathematics.

Math is about recognizing patterns, inventing definitions, building models, connecting ideas and collaborating.

As a mathematician , my work focuses on uncovering hidden structure in data and the conditions that lead to the emergence and persistence of localized patterns in non-linear equations.

The modern mathematical landscape is so much broader than identifying an old problem and spending your life trying to solve it.

Math, mystery, intrigue and fame The status of the Millenium Prize Problems as monuments arises from a feedback loop.