27 Fields Medalists Warn AI Solving 100+ Open Math Problems Could Hollow Out the Field
stevenstrogatz · x · 2026-09-22
Cornell mathematicians Steven Strogatz and Alex Townsend write in the NYT that OpenAI unleashed 10,000 agents on the Navier-Stokes problem, cracking it in 88 hours, and the same model has now "resolved more than 100 longstanding problems across most areas of mathematics." In response, 27 Fields medalists signed a joint declaration arguing famous open problems are "landmarks and lighthouses" whose purpose is guiding human understanding — historically the route to predictive power. Letting AI "adapt the field," they fear, could hollow mathematics out.
Related event: Top Mathematicians Warn AI Companies' Goals Misaligned with Mathematics(3 posts)→
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