If AI can produce correct proofs cheaply, what still matters? A mathematician's take
RexDouglass · x · 2026-09-12
Pengchuan Zhang, a mathematician working in AI, untangles what remains valuable when AI can cheaply produce correct proofs. He distinguishes three layers: a proof can solve a problem, learning to prove can educate us, and inventing a proof is creative work. Math's value takes scientific, practical, educational, and creative forms — Fields medalists emphasized the educational and creative values tied to their own work. Every mathematician, he argues, should know which value they prize and what their math can deliver.
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