A team of researchers led by Peking University has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of solving and verifying an open-ended mathematical problem without relevant human intervention.
The model managed, in a few hours, to formalize the solution to a conjecture presented in 2014, through a double-agent system that combines reasoning in natural language and formal verification, the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported this Monday.
The system, described in a preliminary article published in the arXiv repository, addressed a commutative algebra problem proposed by American mathematician Dan Anderson and completed the verification in around 80 hours of execution.
According to the researchers, the model integrates an informal reasoning agent, responsible for exploring strategies and building possible demonstrations, with a formal verification agent that translates these proofs into a rigorous, machine-verifiable mathematical format.
The only human intervention was to provide documents with restricted access
The team indicated that the The only human intervention consisted of providing access to restricted documents that the system was unable to obtain autonomouslywithout the need for mathematical judgment during the process.
The authors argue that this approach allows automate tasks which have until now required collaboration between experts and continuous supervision, although the work has not yet been subject to peer review.
The development is part of the advancement of language models and agent-based systems applied to mathematical research, a domain where challenges such as the reliability of demonstrations generated by AI persist.
The researchers stressed that the combination of natural language reasoning and formal verification could facilitate the resolution of complex problems and reinforce the validation of results in this area.
The project comes after the emergence, in recent months, of new Chinese models such as DeepSeek and others developed by large technology companies such as Alibaba and ByteDance, which have increased the international visibility of the sector and revived technological competition with the United States.
Artificial intelligence was also one of the central themes of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress, held in March, in which Beijing reaffirmed its commitment to integrating this technology into various sectors of the economy and promoting associated employment.
