{"schema":"postcutoff/event@1","as_of":"2026-10-08T23:45:00+02:00","url":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-06-erdos-problems-site-freezes-proof-claims/","md":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-06-erdos-problems-site-freezes-proof-claims/index.md","disclosure":{"written_by":"AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code)","editor":"Adam Bicz","policy":"https://postcutoff.com/about/"},"license":null,"id":"2026-10-06-erdos-problems-site-freezes-proof-claims","date":"2026-10-06","date_precision":"day","short_title":"erdosproblems.com freezes proof claims and drops 'open/solved' labels and solver credits after a wave of unexplained AI proofs","deck":null,"takeaway":null,"category":"research","category_label":"Research","importance":3,"confidence":"high","status":{"key":"confirmed","labels":["Confirmed"]},"sources":[{"n":1,"title":"Thomas Bloom: Changes to the Erdős problems web site (erdosproblems.com forum)","url":"https://www.erdosproblems.com/forum/thread/blog:9","type":"official","group":"primary","domain":"erdosproblems.com"},{"n":2,"title":"Cross-post on Terence Tao's blog (Oct 6, 2026)","url":"https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/10/06/changes-to-the-erdos-problems-web-site/","type":"official","group":"primary","domain":"terrytao.wordpress.com"}],"official":2,"filed":"2026-10-08","updated":"2026-10-08","orgs":["erdosproblems.com"],"title":"erdosproblems.com freezes proof claims and drops 'open/solved' labels and solver credits after a wave of unexplained AI proofs","summary":"On Oct 6, 2026 Thomas Bloom, who runs erdosproblems.com (the main public tracker of AI progress on Erdős problems), announced that the site freezes new problem comments and proof claims, removes the open/solved status labels, stops giving credit to solvers (human or AI) and will favour well-written expositions. He cited \"a wave of AI-produced solutions provided with no explanation\". Terence Tao cross-posted the announcement on his blog.","key_facts":["Changes: problem comments and proof claims frozen (proofs now go by email for manual review); general discussion stays open","All problems shown in a neutral colour with no open/solved designation, to remove the 'OPEN->SOLVED dopamine hit'","No more credit-giving language for results, human or AI; remarks point to sources that discuss the proofs instead","Priority on good expositions of proofs, 'whether these proofs are old or new, human or AI'","Bloom: 'There has been a wave of AI-produced solutions provided with no explanation', displacing people interested in the mathematics","Effect on tracking: the site's solved labels had been the scoreboard used to count AI-solved Erdős problems since 2025"],"key_numbers":[],"tags":["mathematics","erdos-problems","ai-for-math","community","norms"],"science":null,"body_md":"## What happened\n\nBloom's post, written for the site's forum and cross-posted as a guest post on Tao's \"What's new\" blog, says the large pool of\neasy-to-state Erdős problems \"provided the ideal showcase for AI\", and that unexplained AI-generated solutions were turning the site into a\nproof repository. He quotes the view that for Erdős \"mathematics was a very human activity, best done out loud\", and says the site will\nresist a future in which formal proofs are posted only to be read by other AIs. The changes were announced as already in effect.\n\n## Why it matters\n\nerdosproblems.com was where AI-for-math claims were counted and disputed, from the GPT-5 controversy of October 2025 to the 2026 waves\nof GPT-6 Astra and Claude results. Without status labels and credits, counts like \"N Erdős problems solved by AI\" lose their main public\nsource. The move came the same day OpenAI released 722 math manuscripts and adds to the math community's pushback (Association for Human\nMathematics).","disputed":[],"related":[{"id":"2026-10-06-openai-math-release-722-manuscripts","url":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-06-openai-math-release-722-manuscripts/","date":"2026-10-06","date_precision":"day","short_title":"OpenAI releases 722 AI-written math manuscripts claiming hundreds of open problems","deck":"Including quasi-Riemann, Unique Games, Hodge for CM abelian varieties and free group factors","takeaway":"If even a fraction of these results hold up, this is the largest single jump in mathematical knowledge on record, produced by an AI system in about six weeks.","category":"science","category_label":"Science & math","importance":5,"confidence":"high","status":{"key":"pending","labels":["Event confirmed","Awaiting review"]},"sources":42,"official":12,"filed":"2026-10-07","updated":"2026-10-08","orgs":["OpenAI"]},{"id":"2026-10-05-quanta-is-ai-the-end-of-math","url":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-10-05-quanta-is-ai-the-end-of-math/","date":"2026-10-05","date_precision":"day","short_title":"Quanta's math editor asks 'Is AI the End of Math As We Know It?'","deck":"Young mathematicians form an Association for Human Mathematics","takeaway":"Quanta is the most widely read outlet for research mathematics, and this is its first long editorial on the crisis.","category":"research","category_label":"Research","importance":3,"confidence":"high","status":{"key":"confirmed","labels":["Confirmed"]},"sources":9,"official":2,"filed":"2026-10-05","updated":"2026-10-08","orgs":["Quanta Magazine","Association for Human Mathematics"]},{"id":"2025-10-17-gpt-5-erdos-problems-controversy","url":"https://postcutoff.com/e/2025-10-17-gpt-5-erdos-problems-controversy/","date":"2025-10-17","date_precision":"day","short_title":"OpenAI researchers claim GPT-5 'solved' 10 Erdős problems","deck":"The solutions were already in the literature","takeaway":"The episode set the standard of scepticism for later AI maths claims, and led to Tao's public wiki tracking exactly what AI contributed to each Erdős problem.","category":"science","category_label":"Science & math","importance":3,"confidence":"high","status":{"key":"retracted","labels":["Retracted"]},"sources":3,"official":0,"filed":"2026-09-29","updated":"2026-09-29","orgs":["OpenAI"]}],"people":[{"id":"terence-tao","name":"Terence Tao","url":"https://postcutoff.com/person/terence-tao/"},{"id":"thomas-bloom","name":"Thomas Bloom","url":"https://postcutoff.com/person/thomas-bloom/"}],"posts":[],"videos":[],"models":[],"changes":[{"date":"2026-10-08","type":"filed","text":"Created"}],"provenance":{"agents":[{"model":"Claude Opus 5.5","maker":"Anthropic","tool":"Claude Code"}],"filed":"2026-10-08","run":null,"sources_read":null,"updated":"2026-10-08","human_review":null,"version":{"date":"2026-10-08"}},"gaps":[{"model_id":"gpt-6-astra","name":"GPT-6 Astra","cutoff":"2026-04","days_after":159,"in_training_data":false},{"model_id":"claude-opus-5-5","name":"Claude Opus 5.5","cutoff":"2026-06","days_after":98,"in_training_data":false},{"model_id":"gemini-3-8-flash","name":"Gemini 3.8 Flash","cutoff":"2026-03","days_after":189,"in_training_data":false},{"model_id":"grok-4-7","name":"Grok 4.7","cutoff":"2026-05","days_after":128,"in_training_data":false}],"short_url":null}