Mathematicians panicking: AI can soon produce PhD-thesis-level work in weeks
lemire · x · 2026-09-20
CS professor Daniel Lemire observes mathematicians panicking over agentic AI. He argues that within weeks, someone who isn't a high-level mathematician can, with AI, produce the equivalent of a good math PhD thesis; a top-1% high schooler with a big enough token budget could write one as a hobby.
If Joe Smith finished a math PhD thesis in 2022, a smart high schooler can now generate the same output while playing video games — a hard blow for anyone still chasing a prestigious faculty position.
Yet he asks: why aren't we celebrating this breakthrough, now that math problems can finally be solved faster? He argues part of the issue lies with academic… (thread truncated), and says this ambivalence is worth reflecting on.
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