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Comment by omnicognate

> finding geometric constructions

Finding optimal geometric constructions. Every problem is an optimisation because AlphaEvolve is an optimiser.

> This is not correct. The evaluation function is arbitrary.

You say this and then show details of how the score is calculated. AlphaEvolve needs a number to optimise, because it is optimiser. It can't optimise true/false.

> The feedback that you've constructed a graph of size K with some property does not tell you what you need to do to construct a graph of size K + M with the same property.

The feedback that you've constructed a graph of size K tell you that you've constructed a bigger graph than a competing solution that only constructed a graph of size K-1 and are therefore a more promising starting point for the next round of mutation

If you're trying to solve a "does there exist an X" problem, the information that none of your candidates found (or was) an X doesn't give you any information about which of them you should retain for mutation in the next step. You need a problem of the form "find the best X" (or, rather "find a good X") and for that you need a score of how well you've done. If you can find a score that actually improves steadily until you find the thing you're trying to prove the existence of then great, but generally these problems are "find the best X" where it's easy to come up with a load of competing Xs.

> The novelty here is that the LLM replaces the human expert.

That's not the claim at all. Tao said the benefits are scaling, robustness and interpretability, not that it can be operated by someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

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