Viral math-world rant: academics forced to defend why their life's work can't be automated by AI
basedjensen · x · 2026-09-16
A viral, scathing rant circulating in the math world: tenured mathematicians who embrace AI for funding while worrying about grad students should be made to defend in department-wide seminars why their hyperspecialized life's work can't be automated away — with the upside of ending math's culture of hyperspecialization. Extremist in tone but reflective of real academic anxiety about AI's impact on research value and funding.
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