These are deep rooted questions which go to the very core of the extent of trust we should place in AI.

In the case of the Navier-Stokes Equation, which is an equation that governs the flow of fluids like water and air etc. This equation was penned in the 19th century, but not much is understood. That’s why the Clay Mathematical Institute of Cambridge, Massachusetts (CMI) included this in the seven millennium prize problems in 2000 with a reward of 1 million dollars. 

It has been in the news lately that OpenAI has claimed to have solved it in 88 hours by using about 10,000 AI agents, projecting the great improvement made in the field of AI and what it can do.

However, controversy has run alongside this big achievement, coming from mathematics professors Tristan Buckmaster and Levent Alpöge who have also been working on this equation, with Levent Alpöge working for Open AI’s competitor Anthropic.

They were using Open AI’s codex for some of their work. Believing that it was not being shared or passed on to anyone. They found out on the 3rd of September that the information and direction they were working on was passed onto Open AI.

He claims that Open AI began their project once they found out about their work and leveraged it to progress.

This brings up a lot of questions, like why the data was shared, as well as company integrity around viewing and tracking of data of users who use their AI tools. Linked to what comes after in terms of leveraging others work for their own benefit (in this case, against a competitor).

Does this stifle innovation, what does it mean for artists, and how does AI account for intellectual property and permissions? Some recent apps can render pictures in the style of old master painters, while it is cool who gave them the right in the day of intellectual rights.

 I believe that we have to be very careful in how we use AI. Original ideas and creativity are in danger of being stolen and leveraged if data and inputs to AI are not handled properly. Data today is a precious commodity but easily given. So all of us need to be mindful of how our own ideas are being misused, aware of what is going on and protecting ourselves as best we can.

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