Stanford theorist: LLMs now approach Millennium Prize Problems; math community in turmoil
burny_tech · x · 2026-10-01
In a Theory Dish post, Omer Reingold argues the mathematical world, including theoretical computer science, is in turmoil: even Millennium Prize Problems and beloved FOCS/STOC open problems are no longer beyond LLMs' reach. Mapping the community onto stages of grief, he says denial is over—no more "models can't do real math"—and academics now mix anger, bargaining, and depression. He urges senior colleagues to snap out of bargaining fantasies (hoping frontier labs pause theorem-proving or tweaking publication rules will preserve the status quo) and respond decisively to fundamental change, while supporting junior researchers and giving them a central voice in shaping the field's future.
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