From Math Olympiads to Navier-Stokes: How Fast Is AI Progressing? with Greg Burnham - #778

Greg Burnham, AI capabilities research lead at Epoch AI, traces AI's rapid ascent in mathematical reasoning — from solving elementary problems to contributing to Navier-Stokes fluid dynamics. He examines how much of this progress relies on existing human formalizations and persistence, versus genuine novelty. The conversation covers the surprisingly steady pace of capability gains across model generations, and highlights where current systems still falter: open-ended research, iterative learning, and identifying promising future directions.