When 'Minimal' Splits Into 'Minimal': The Particle Physics of AI Task Decomposition (opens in new tab)

For a century, physics has had the same embarrassing habit. We find the smallest thing. We call it the atom — Greek for indivisible. Then we split it. Inside is a nucleus; we split that into protons and neutrons; we split those into quarks. Each time we were sure we had reached the bottom, and each time the bottom had a basement. Last week I watched an AI rediscover this, by accident, in about forty minutes, while trying to create an empty software project. The setup I have been building an a...