Free AI chatbot cracks long-standing dice puzzle in minutes, surprising its human user
A journalist used a free AI chatbot to find a set of six dice that could fairly determine the first player in a board game, a problem that had taken mathematicians over a decade to solve for five dice. The AI produced a valid solution in about 13 minutes, which was confirmed by a researcher. Although the solution involved impractical 720-sided dice, it highlights the rapid progress of AI in mathematical problem-solving.
The AI-generated solution consisted of five 720-sided dice and one 20-sided die, a design verified as mathematically correct by researcher Eric Harshbarger. This contrasts with the researchers' own unpublished six-dice adaptation, which uses uniformly 360-sided dice and is considered superior.
Investigators suspect the chatbot located the published five-dice solution and a known "induction" method, then independently bridged the gap. Harshbarger, who avoids AI, called the feat significant, noting a non-mathematician likely couldn't have synthesized those components alone.
This episode could signal a shift in how niche mathematical puzzles are tackled, allowing amateurs to contribute to specialized fields. Researchers may need to adapt verification and attribution norms as AI generates novel solutions. However, the reliance on AI to train future models could introduce subtle biases or degrade reasoning over time, potentially impacting the reliability of such tools for both casual users and professional scientists.