Tyler Cowen on the mathematicians' AI rebellion: adaptation, not resistance, is the variable
kevinweil · x · 2026-09-13
OpenAI CPO Kevin Weil shares Tyler Cowen's Marginal Revolution piece on the mathematicians' open letter against AI. Cowen rejects the most cynical reading and admits his own analogous worry — economists may stop carrying marginalist thinking in their heads when a button gives the right answer — but, invoking Bastiat's seen and unseen, expects enormous benefits to economic science. He disputes the letter's claim that outcomes hinge on the humans controlling the technology: the real action variable is how mathematicians adapt, e.g. awarding status, pay, and promotions to those who "fill in the important blanks" even when AI has settled the theorems.
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