I don't move in these circles but the way I picture it is that higher mathematics in its purest form has no applications but is rather a medium of creative expression among a select few. How is AI generating voluminous opaque proofs of esoteric results so different from generating millions of hours of music nobody likes or has time to hear that we think the former is world-changing while the latter is just slop?

Do you seriously not see the difference, or are you being intentionally obtuse?

Plus, no, multiple of the problems Astra solved do have real-world applications in computer science, and perhaps even chip design.