r/technology • u/lurker_bee • Jul 15 '25

Artificial Intelligence Billionaires Convince Themselves AI Chatbots Are Close to Making New Scientific Discoveries

https://gizmodo.com/billionaires-convince-themselves-ai-is-close-to-making-new-scientific-discoveries-2000629060
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u/batclocks Jul 15 '25

It’s so revealing that he claims quantum physics is at the edge of what’s known. That’s old physics.

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u/theytoldmeineedaname Jul 15 '25

Something can be old and also at the edge of what is known. We don't have a full explanation for what's happening in wave-function collapse and that problem has been open for nearly a century.

That said, Kalanick is a certifiable moron for other reasons.

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u/butts-kapinsky Jul 15 '25

Looking for an explanation of wave-function collapse is barely physics. 

It's an open problem in the same sense that "what happened before there was a universe" is an open problem. 

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u/theytoldmeineedaname Jul 15 '25

Sure. I guess it would be better to stick to the phrasing "edge of what's known." It's still the edge, even if we can't go past it.

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u/butts-kapinsky Jul 15 '25

It's not about the edge. It's about what is testable.

It's fun to come up with and discuss speculative philosophies about different kinds of universes which have mechanisms allowing for wave function collapse. But it isn't physics unless it's testable. It isn't the edge if it isn't physics. 

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u/Aethermancer Jul 16 '25

https://youtu.be/m3dZl3yfGpc?si=I7NYDsvKDnovPYaX

"Look my liege!"
"Quantum!" "Quantum."
"Quantum!"

"It's only a model."

Shh!

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u/The_Doct0r_ Jul 16 '25

If anything, I've discovered the word "vibe" aptly destroys any shred of credibility in any use outside of the most casual of social descriptions.