Google DeepMind and Cambridge paper: AI agent autonomously discovers exact rules for 11 unsolved Turing machines
A new paper from Google DeepMind and Cambridge shows that a Gemini-based agent can autonomously discover new mathematics, finding and providing exact rules for 11 Busy Beaver Turing machines that previously had no analysis on record. The agent tests edge cases in a simulator, drafts informal proofs, and then completes the proofs in the Lean proof checker; all the relevant rules passed Lean verification. The paper states that this reflects AI moving from answering mathematical questions posed by humans toward open-ended discovery.
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This work demonstrates the Gemini agent shifting from answering human questions to open-ended mathematical discovery, and completes formal verification with Lean.
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New Google DeepMind and Cambridge paper shows that an AI agent can discover new math itself, proving exact rules for 11 unsolved Turing machines.
AI can move from answering human-posed math questions to open-ended discovery, shown by a Gemini-based agent that found and Lean-verified new rules for 11 Busy Beaver machines with no prior documented analysis.
It tested edge cases in a simulator, drafts informal proofs, and then proves the rules in the Lean proof checker.