Together with the other teams and a couple of mathematicians from the other Universities, we touched down in London on the 20th. After a quick cruise on a two-floor red bus, we found ourselves posted up at the Imperial College campus.
They handed us the keys to 2-person rooms at their dormitory.
They allocated me a room with Will, and let me tell you, that wasn't the greatest news, The Dude's a real character. Pretentious and overconfident.
By 3 PM, our entire team was done settling into our rooms.
With a lecture from Professor Kevin Buzard of Imperial College on the agenda for 5 PM, we figured it was prime time to chill out a bit. So we decided to visit a local cafeteria.
As we strolled into the cafeteria, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sound of animated conversations filled the air.
The place had that quintessential London charm – cozy yet bustling with energy.
Quirky math-themed placemats adorned each wooden table that was scattered around.
"Hey! MIT team!" out of the blue, someone's voice called out to us.
We turned to see three figures waving us down, and lo and behold, it was the Harvard crew.
A pair of lanky dudes, rocking some nerdy-chic glasses, and a cute and small girl with a laptop covered in mathematical stickers.
The sight couldn't have been more classic.
We strolled up to the Harvard table, giving them a head nod.
Nadya smoothly took the spot between me and Isaac. It wasn't just me feeling some kind of way about Will - the entire squad felt it.
As we got comfy, the table became a mix of laughs, geeky stories, and math chatter, but it didn't last for long.
John, who was one of the Harvard cats, shot me a glance and dropped a question - "Yo, why haven't I ever heard of your name? Never seen you at any competitions, man."
The guy seemed to have a rep for knowing everyone in the math game, and my low-key approach had caught his attention. The table fell into a curious hush...
"Let's just say that I prefer spending my time making money. I'm not even a math major..."
Curiosity was written all over their faces, but mixed in with that curiosity were glances that threw a hint of shade my way.
We should hold math above everything else, right? But I was playing a different game.
The cute chick from the opposite team, especially, cranked up her interest, and it wasn't just about the math jabber.
The room felt mad-charged, and in that silence, John, keeping it polite, asked with a half-joking tone:
"So, did you pull in that money you're talking about?"
The question echoed, and the spotlight swung right back to me.
The Harvard girl's interest took a different turn; her eyes now held a silent note of skepticism. Her hair was darker than the night, and those eyes, deep brown, had me feeling kind of tingly.
For a hot minute, the cafeteria became a stage for a different kind of competition, one that seemed to go beyond the academic arena.
"Well... damn, no need to keep it on the low," I chuckled. "You all can use it too. Let me show you the GAI Weather app; it predicts the weather more on point than anything else. You can check it out on Google Play and I put it on IOS too, last week."
As I dropped the info about the app, the vibe in the room shifted. Skepticism turned into intrigue.
"What is it called again?" the girl with the tech vibes, was the first to drop the question, pulling out her phone with an apple engraved on it.
By the way, her name's Railey. We might've just tossed greetings back on the plane, but I did remember it just now.
"It's called GAI Weather, short for Genetic Artificial Intelligence Weather," I replied, catching the glint of interest in Railey's eyes as she tapped away on her phone.
The rest of the crew, including the Harvard squad, couldn't help but dig into it.
But there was one exception – Will. He sat there, like a lone island, as if this tech talk was beneath him.
"Over 70k downloads? When did you release it?", Isaac asked out
"It's been seven weeks, but it's really been taking off for the last four"
"And how does it work exactly?", The other boy from Harvard asked. I didn't even know his name. He always stayed silent, not even greeting anyone.
"Just type out in simple language where and when you wanna know the weather and that's it! Everything you need will pop up for you..."
"Cool, cool"
After a beat, their expressions switched up, leaning towards genuine interest.
"You know what, Max?" Railey threw in.
"Yeah?"
"I got a knack for design and user experience. I could help you level this up."
"Well... If your works match the vibe and I'm feeling it, why not?"
"I'll hit you up on What's Up then."
"I don't mess with What's Up. You got Messenger?"
"I do."
After the convo. We sat there for another 30 minutes, sipping on our coffees and diving into the nitty-gritty of the IMC problems. We talked about the ones that sparked our interest and the ones that seemed like straight-up head-scratchers.
Before we knew it, the clock hit 4:30 PM, and we made our way together to the spot where Professor Kevin Buzard's lecture would be going down.
Four lectures like these were prepared for this year's contenders.
With a whopping 300-plus students participating in the IMC this year, there was no way to squeeze everyone into one lecture hall.
That's why, together with our Aussie mates, we were locked in for the Professor Kevin Buzard experience, while the rest of the globe would listen to lectures from other profs.
I wasn't complaining though; the topic of the lecture was right up my alley.
We strolled into the hall, where the crowd was already packing in, and casting a glance at the blackboard, the theme of the lecture was crystal clear.
'How by 2040 Artificial Intelligence will replace Mathematicians in proof writing'
I decided to grab a spot in the front row, aiming to maximize my learning from the experience. A few minutes later, an older guy, balding and all, rolled in, sporting those bold red Hawaii shorts and a white t-shirt that had "WSAD." written on it.
The students were still buzzing, clueless that this laid-back character was the sage we'd all been waiting for.
He strolled up to the blackboard and dropped a classic line: "Oi, students, I'm Professor Buzard. A bit of quiet would be spot on, cheers."
Now, the hall simmered down, but you could see the students rocking some puzzled looks.
Most recognized the Professor from pictures, so their expressions quickly shifted, but the getup he was sporting was definitely not what they'd expect from the Prof.
Professor continued, "Alright, listen up, my background's in algebraic number theory, but these days, I'm dipping my toes in the world of formal proof verification."
"I've got a feeling, in my time on this rock, computers are gonna lend us a hand with proofs, and I'm on a mission to make that happen, sharpish."
"Tonight, we're diving deep into a showdown between computer smarts and human smarts."
"Who's the top dog? Who's running the math game? Now, no doubt, a computer can crunch numbers at a pace of 34 billion X 2 billion quicker than any of us mere mortals."
"But can it prove a theorem, mate? That's the real question, innit?"
He went into an analysis of how Alpha GO can use machine-learning techniques to win against humans.
Later on, the Professor explained that as long as a computer knows the basic rules of logic it will come up with better results than a human.
"What if we give a computer the full run-down for a maths degree?"
"That's what we've been doing here at the Imperial College for the last couple of years. We're stacking up a database of modern mathematical theorems and definitions that a computer can easily wrap its circuits around."
"I hope that we can achieve our goal by 2040"
Everyone in the hall was soaking in the info, jotting down notes left and right.
Normally, this would be the moment for a round of applause, but that would just water down the weight of the words being said.
"Now I'm not just talking about this for the fun of it. You lot are some of the sharpest minds on earth. If you have any ideas or questions, I'm all ears right after this"
Professor Buzard finished his lecture, closing up his notes as he brought the lecture to a close.
The students started filtering out, leaving the lecture hall in waves. Only a handful, about 2 or 3 of them, sauntered up to Professor Buzard, asking him a couple of questions.
"Aight, Max, we're planning to take a stroll 'round London. You in?" Nadya tossed out while packing up.
"I'm in, but you'll have to wait for me. I want to have a chat with Professor."
"No stress, it wouldn't be any fun without you anyway."
After everyone left, I stepped up to the Professor, who had just wrapped up his talk with one of the Aussie girls. He looked around, checking if there was anyone else...
"I'm sorry, Professor Buzard..."
"Alright, student, what's your name?"
"I'm Max, and I've got an idea I'd like to propose..."