UCLA prodigy says math’s romantic era may yield to industrial-scale AI

A shift in mathematical work

Tao said leading mathematicians are spending more time sorting through large numbers of AI-generated proofs, rather than doing what he called the heroic work of solving problems themselves. In a Numberphile interview this week, he said mathematics was moving toward an industrial era, with work becoming much larger in scale. He also questioned whether the field’s traditional stories about discovery would retain their importance.

OpenAI claims major results

OpenAI began its push into mathematics by solving the Navier-Stokes equation in early September, according to the article. The equation is one of mathematics’ millennium problems. Earlier this month, OpenAI said it had solved another 700 outstanding problems. A New York University math professor told CNBC that the release had disrupted work by early-career mathematicians.

Debate over AI and careers

In September, OpenAI withdrew sponsorship of an AI mathathon organized by Caltech undergraduates. Participants had been encouraged to use artificial intelligence to solve equations, and a group of senior academics had complained about the event.

Organizer Caiman Moreno-Earle said students were uncertain whether graduate-school positions would be available by the time they earned Ph.D.s. Tao, while less pessimistic than some colleagues, said the heroic age of mathematics had held a romantic appeal.