Comment on New largest prime number discovered by former Nvidia software engineer
Telorand@reddthat.com 3 weeks ago
I don’t know why Nvidia is mentioned at all, except the hardware. That’s cool that this person found the number, but Nvidia didn’t do anything except employ them once upon a time and make a product that does a thing. It’s not justified to celebrate the maker of a stove when a soup kitchen feeds everyone.
This is a win for Luke and GIMPS in general, and I’m happy for them.
I disagree. I find it quite relevant to have the person/ group, the strategy or method, and the device used (including chipsets). Most articles on prime number discovery will mention all these things.
The fact that he worked there seems pretty irrelevant tho.
also the person apparently spent 2 million dollars to find the number. and the money is probably from stock compensation from nvidia
We define people by their labor value in capitalist societies. It only makes sense headlines would refer to people thru the lens of their previous employer.
I wonder if he wrote some of the CUDA code or anything like that.
gedaliyah@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
This is the first such prime that was discovered using GPU cloud computing. It’s not just an incredible new discovery, but also a demonstration of what this type of hardware network may be capable.
state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
I didn’t use to do this, but with the world being on fire I feel like I should ask whether the amount of energy put into finding huge primes is really worth it.
mipadaitu@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Why is anything worth the effort?
Cause research into primes makes computer security stronger. Cause research in general can make new discoveries that can lead to unexpected improvements in life.
Cause we need to know the answer to everything.
Cause it’s better than mining crypto or doing AI training models over and over.
state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
I used to be all on board with that, but seeing what a colossal waste of resources AI is, I’ve come to question other efforts like this one or calculating pi to a trillion digits. The trigger here for me was the use of GPUs, which I’ve come to associate with AI waste. Sure, I know they’re just a tool. But I still don’t see what value will come from knowing ever bigger prime numbers.
Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Widening the technology gap for a species of upright locusts intent on destroying the only place we exist.
I’d rather see anything that shows we’re not just cave-people with gadgets.