Artificial Intelligence
Anthropic asked AI to crack Riemann. I asked AI to spot a maths joke.
Anthropic asked its AI to "take a real stab" at the Riemann hypothesis, a 167-year-old mathematical mystery with a million-dollar prize. Claude did not win the prize. What it did do is push a stubborn 41.6% floor to 67.2% on a related problem, formally verified, and praised by Oxford’s James Maynard as "a genuinely interesting mathematical contribution." Then a small experiment of my own: five leading AI models given a maths puzzle that hides a visual joke. Only two spotted it. A story about two corners of intelligence, and the humility and scepticism they demand.
Aug 2026 · 14 min read