Hamkins calls AI math usefulness "essentially zero" as others hail 8 months of historic change
lpachter · x · 2026-09-13
Mathematician Joel David Hamkins sharply criticized AI models for mathematical work, calling their usefulness "essentially zero": models state wrong answers confidently and resist correction — if a person behaved that way, he'd stop engaging with them.
Quoting him, lpachter offers nearly the opposite verdict: the transformation of mathematics over the past 8 months is "astonishing and historic," and living through it is an incredible experience. The juxtaposition captures the deep split in the math community over AI capability.
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