Navier-Stokes lost in translation: Why Lean verification of AI autoformalisation does not guarantee correct natural language proofs

LLM LNJR KR / KRR Neural-Symbolic MTPLD
自动形式化正日益被用于验证数学文本(包括由人工智能生成的数学文本),例如OpenAI所宣称的关于纳维–斯托克斯方程解发生“爆破”(blow-up)的证明。在此过程中,人工智能系统将自然语言(NL)表述的文本翻译为Lean等形式化语言。一旦完成该翻译,形式化语言所表达的论证即可轻松地通过机械方式加以验证。本文旨在阐明:由于在语义层面实现忠实翻译存在种种困难,这一自动形式化过程实际上无法为原始自然语言论证提供任何可信度保障。特别地,我们指出,为实现语义忠实的翻译而必须解决的数学自然语言文本中的歧义消解问题,在可解性复杂度指数(SCI)层级/算术层级中处于任意高的位置(即SCI = ∞)。因此,非正式地说,实现语义忠实的人工智能自动形式化,其难度高于包括停机问题(其SCI = 1)在内的任何可计算问题。为展示该结论的实际影响,我们列举了若干人工智能在实践中将自然语言命题与证明误译为Lean的实例,这些误译导致自然语言证明与其Lean“验证”之间出现实质性错配,其中就包括OpenAI所宣称的纳维–斯托克斯方程证明。具体而言,我们证明:其所形式化的Lean证明,并不对应于原始自然语言中关于纳维–斯托克斯方程解发生爆破的证明。
Autoformalisation is increasingly used to verify mathematical texts, including those generated by AI, as in OpenAI's announced proof of blow-up of solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations. In this process, an AI system translates the text from a natural language (NL) into a formal language such as Lean. Once this translation is done, the argument expressed in the formal language can easily be mechanically verified. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate why this process may offer no confidence in the original NL argument, owing to the various difficulties in performing the translation semantically faithfully. In particular, we highlight that the problem of resolving ambiguities in mathematical NL text, which is necessary in order to provide semantically faithful translation, is arbitrarily high up in the Solvability Complexity Index (SCI) hierarchy/arithmetical hierarchy (the SCI $= \infty$). Hence, informally, providing semantically faithful AI autoformalisation is harder than any computational problem including the Halting problem (which has SCI $= 1$). To demonstrate the effect of this result we provide several examples of AI mistranslations of NL statements and proofs into Lean in practice, resulting in mismatches between NL proofs and their Lean `verifications'. These include OpenAI's announced Navier-Stokes proof. In particular, we show that the formalised Lean proof does not correspond to the NL proof of blow-up of solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations.
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