Goalposts

Hacker News has set AI a lot of challenges over the years. Which ones has it met?

2026 Marchstorus

About GPT-5.4 Pro solving an open math problem, and whether LLMs produce truly novel ideas.

Ok, I'll bite. Show me an LLM that comes up with a new math operator. Or which will come up with theory of relativity if only Newton physics is in its training dataset. That it could remix existing ideas which leads to novel insights is expected, however the current LLMs can't come up with paradigm shifts that require novel insights. Even humans have a rather limited time they can come up with novel insights (when they are young, capable of latent thinking, not yet ossified from the existing formalization of science and their brain is still energetically capable without vascular and mitochondrial dysfunction common as we age).

An LLM invents a new math operator, or derives relativity when trained only on Newtonian physics.

Has this happened?

Yes 4 (4%)Not sure 37 (35%)No 65 (61%)

Votes cast 1–2 October 2026: 100,590 votes from 9,694 people.