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MIT asks arXiv to withdraw preprint of paper on AI and scientific discovery

(economics.mit.edu)
281 points carabiner | 6 comments | 16 May 25 15:09 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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ipsum2 ◴[16 May 25 18:16 UTC] No.44008356[source]▶
MIT's article is quite scant on details. WSJ has more information, but still no specifics: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/mit-says-it-no-longer-stands-beh...

> The paper was championed by MIT economists Daron Acemoglu, who won the 2024 economics Nobel, and David Autor. The two said they were approached in January by a computer scientist with experience in materials science who questioned how the technology worked, and how a lab that he wasn’t aware of had experienced gains in innovation. Unable to resolve those concerns, they brought it to the attention of MIT, which began conducting a review.

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timewizard[dead post] ◴[16 May 25 18:59 UTC] No.44008764[source]▶
[flagged]
colechristensen ◴[16 May 25 19:15 UTC] No.44008886{3}[source]▶
This is inaccurate pedantry. It is commonly referred to as the nobel prize in economics and administered by the same foundation, the funding for it is a gift to the foundation from the Swedish central bank instead of being sourced from Nobel's estate.
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1. Keyframe ◴[16 May 25 19:21 UTC] No.44008941{4}[source]▶
yeah, but also "Nobel accuses the awarding institution of misusing his family's name, and states that no member of the Nobel family has ever had the intention of establishing a prize in economics." It's hijacking of the brand.
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2. justin66 ◴[16 May 25 19:28 UTC] No.44009002[source]▶
That ship has already sailed… and circumnavigated the globe several times. It’s weird anyone feels obligated to bring this stuff up since everybody familiar with the prize knows the deal.

> Nobel accuses the awarding institution of misusing his family's name

From Alfred Nobel’s great grandnephew (I’m not even sure what that looks like on a family tree), to spare anyone else looking it up.

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3. colechristensen ◴[16 May 25 19:45 UTC] No.44009141[source]▶
The grandson of Alfred Nobel's older brother complained publicly 20 years ago... about a prize that's been given now for nearly 60 years.

Yawn.

Distant relation of man who used his fortune making explosives to give a prize to prominent academic unhappy, complains. The foundation got to make the decision, was given the name. This is "old man yells at cloud" level of discourse. This distant relation has less of a right to say how the name gets to be used than the foundation created by the man.

4. bee_rider ◴[16 May 25 19:48 UTC] No.44009174[source]▶
Mostly it is just annoying when people refer to long-existing super niche arguments as if they are making a general statement of some sort.
5. Rastonbury ◴[16 May 25 19:55 UTC] No.44009226[source]▶
It's pendantry, he won a prize and the great grand nephew says they shouldn't call it a Nobel prize. It's a waste of time to discuss what the prize should be called rather whether the award is worthy of being the best economics research/breakthrough that year. I don't know the answer to that but I don't really care about the nomenclature
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6. timewizard ◴[16 May 25 20:21 UTC] No.44009479[source]▶
> of being the best economics research/breakthrough that year.

So the idea that it should be a "peace prize" or contribute to the world as a whole is entirely lost in this definition. Which is why I find the Sveriges Riksbank memorial prize so unctuous.