Maths, AI and intuition

Artificial intelligence is one of the defining technologies of the 21st century. Over the last 15 years, machine learning models have learnt to perform tasks that humans find easy, such as speech and image recognition. However many problems are still out of the reach of AI, including most unsolved problems in pure mathematics.

Hear from University of Sydney Professor of Mathematics Geordie Williamson as he explores how machine learning can help with the intuitive aspects of mathematical research. Geordie recently carried out one of the first applications of AI in pure mathematics, in collaboration with Oxford University mathematicians and DeepMind, the AI company of AlphaGo fame. The results were published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature in December 2021.

Geordie and the DeepMind team used machine learning models to uncover surprising patterns in mathematical objects, leading to progress on problems that have puzzled mathematicians for decades. 

Mathematician and MC Adam Spencer hosts this Sydney Ideas event.

Find out how AI can help deepen our understanding of the world and our brains, and enhance one of our human superpowers: intuition.

This event was held on Tuesday 15 March 2022 and presented with the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute.

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About the speaker

Professor Geordie Williamson FAA FRS is Director of the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute and a world-leading expert in representation theory, the mathematical theory of symmetry.

Among other awards, he is a recipient of the Clay Research Award, the Chevalley Prize of the American Mathematics Society and 2017 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize. 

About the MC

Adam Spencer, Mathematics and Science Ambassador for the University of Sydney, is a best-selling author and science communicator. 

Event banner: Photo by J. Balla Photography on Unsplash