January 9, 2026
Proofs, Popcorn, and Aristotle
AI solves Erdos problem #728 (Terence Tao mathstodon post)
AI cracks Erdős puzzle and the internet fights over “Aristotle” vs chatbots
TLDR: An AI helped solve Erdős Problem #728, with Terence Tao spotlighting how fast it rewrites math explanations. The comments erupt over specialized tool “Aristotle” versus generic chatbots, split between hype, skepticism, and a chorus of “did you even read the post?”—making this a milestone and a meme.
Math internet lit up after Terence Tao shared that an AI more-or-less autonomously cracked Erdős Problem #728—an old-school brainteaser from legendary mathematician Paul Erdős—link. It’s unusual: the original problem was misworded and only recently reconstructed by the community, so this result doesn’t appear in the usual literature. Tao’s bigger flex? AI rapidly rewriting and polishing the explanation like a tireless math editor—and people had feelings.
One camp is hyped: user observationist swears reworking tough proofs and remixing known methods “will be done at superhuman speeds,” calling this a pre-AGI (artificial general intelligence) superpower. Another camp is “read the post, folks!” D‑Machine scolds headline skimmers and says the star is Aristotle, a specialized tool, not your average chatbot, dropping receipts with the paper and shouting that this is what comes after basic LLMs (large language models). Meanwhile, tachim rolls in like a launch manager: “Try Aristotle today” with no waitlist at aristotle.harmonic.fun.
Skeptics ask if this helps real experts. lwansbrough wonders if physicists and mathematicians truly get value, or if it’s just coder candy. Meme of the day: “Chatbot vs Scholar.” Verdict? The crowd loves the math win, but the real drama is over whether specialized AI beats chatty bots—and whether anyone actually read the thread.
Key Points
- •An AI system solved Erdős problem #728 largely autonomously after feedback on an initial attempt.
- •The solution followed the reconstructed formulation by the Erdős Problems website community.
- •The result is not known to exist in prior literature, though similar results by similar methods were found.
- •This aligns with a trend of increasing AI capability to resolve Erdős problems using established methods.
- •The original Erdős statement was misformulated; recent reconstruction explains the absence of prior literature and highlights AI’s ability to rapidly produce and refine expositions.