The old route to math advances via conjecture-gathering will soon matter less, author argues
_onionesque · x · 2026-10-07
Continuing his strip-mining analogy, the author maps the prevalent route for math advances: interesting phenomenon → conjecture → the conjecture becomes a gathering point for the community → new machinery (the actual advance) → solution.
He argues this route will soon become less important as AI matures, hinting that AI may restructure how mathematical progress is organized.
Related event: Mathematician argues AI can 'strip mine' well-developed areas of math(7 posts)→
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