Terence Tao and 24 Fields Medalists warn AI benchmark-chasing is damaging mathematics
AI寒武纪 · wechat · 2026-09-12
Terence Tao joined 24 other Fields Medalists — including Pierre Deligne, Peter Scholze, Maryna Viazovska and 2026 laureate Yu Deng — in releasing a joint statement titled 'A Serious Imbalance in AI and Mathematics', also covered by The Economist.
The statement argues that AI companies treating the solution of open math problems as benchmark targets is misaligned with mathematics' core purpose: building deep conceptual understanding. Rapid, mass-produced solutions are released without rigorous write-ups, proper attribution of new methods, or careful citation, sparking authorship and plagiarism concerns.
Without human mathematicians to digest and integrate AI-generated results into the body of mathematical knowledge, the authors warn, the generational transmission of ideas will break — a microcosm of a broader threat to all intellectual labor that mathematicians, AI companies, and society must address urgently.
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