Something that seems like it would require a lot less prowess than coming up with a new research direction and pursuing it, is finding counter examples to a fixed hypothesis. Given the excitement around agents, can we make an agent that just attempts to find counter-examples to papers, e.g., places where probes are inaccurate, domains where techniques don't work that weren't mentioned in the paper, etc.?
If you are inspired by this idea, you can reach out to the authors for collaboration or cite it:
@misc{holtzman-the-counter-example-2026,
author = {Holtzman, Ari},
title = {The Counter Example Machine},
year = {2026},
url = {https://hypogenic.ai/ideahub/idea/1RJIPoTwwwTDsH5LRgxU}
}Please sign in to comment on this idea.
This is exactly the Refutation component in Aletheia(https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.10177)
Instead of trying to prove a theorem for all n, the agent runs a 'Value Search' to find a single n (like edge cases) that breaks it.
Applying this to general AI research is a interesting move. Building an agent that hunts for failure modes, like a Red Teamer for papers, is often easier and more valuable than trying to replicate perfect results.