What was already known
Haugland’s 2016 step-function construction gave C5 ≤ 0.380927. The lower bound cited by the AlphaEvolve paper is 0.379005, obtained by White; its new result changes only the upper bound (AlphaEvolve, Appendix B.5, p. 40).
AI involvement
Google DeepMind’s paper says humans selected the problem, evaluation metric and initial code while AlphaEvolve evolved search heuristics and produced the retained construction.
Humans supplied the problem and evaluation framework; AlphaEvolve evolved the search and found the retained step-function construction.
Importance
The construction modestly tightens a longstanding bound on a problem posed by Erdős.
Limitations
The numerical gain in the upper bound is 0.000003; the exact constant remains unknown. The paper describes a step-function construction but this review has not independently calculated or certified its value.
Technical verification
DeepMind reports automated evaluation and displays the step-function construction, but the reviewed source does not document an independent exact certificate for the decimal upper bound.
Human understanding
Few is the default when evidence for a higher level is insufficient. The paper explains the search process but does not name a person who explains why this particular step-function construction has its bound.
Correction and publication history
Primary-source claim review for the What AI Found discovery index; non-notifying local inclusion.
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