AIAI Seminar-Monday 6 May-Talk by Fenner Tanswell

Title: The Philosophical Implications of Using Large Language Models in Mathematics

(Joint work with  Ásgeir Berg Matthíasson, University of Iceland)

Abstract:  The recent arrival of ChatGPT, and other widely available generative AI text systems based on large language models, has had widespread cultural and technological impact.  We will consider how they already have affected mathematical research, and what might be in store for the near future, by allowing computers to act as referees, verifiers, assistants, collaborators, and even researchers in their own right.  Our paper will look at how this affects some of the existing debates in the philosophy of mathematics, in particular: (1) on informal proofs and the significance of formalisability; (2) on mathematical epistemology and the a priori; and (3) on the social dimension of mathematics.