Agent Sightings Real agent use cases

Explore open math problems

From the linked report, custom agent covered explore open math problems. a document exploring the use of autonomous mathematical discovery in a multi-agent open-world setting.

Agent or tool
Custom agent
Topic
Research & Data
Reported on
Hacker News
Added
2026-10-15

Why it matters

Research is mostly gathering, cleaning and comparing. Handing that groundwork to an agent leaves the person with the part that needs judgment: deciding what the findings mean. It is one of 67 sightings filed under Research & Data on Agent Sightings (number 54 by interest), and one of 182 involving Custom agent.

How you could try it

Here is a reusable prompt, written by us in our own words, that captures the task. Paste it into your own agent or any similar agent and adjust the details to your situation.

Research brief: explore open math problems. Prefer primary sources, include links and confidence notes, and do not contact anyone.

Tip: Start small: run it once on a low-stakes example, read what the agent did, and only then let it run on real work.

Source

Read the original first-hand account on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49481455. Our summary is a paraphrase; details are in the source.

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