Math PhD's 6-month theorem proof topped by ChatGPT's more elegant approach
Yuchenj_UW · x · 2026-10-10
A viral anecdote: a math PhD and her advisor spent 6 months proving a theorem, then asked ChatGPT before publishing — the AI quickly produced a more elegant proof via an approach they'd never considered, triggering an existential crisis. The author argues mathematicians shouldn't despair: coding went through the same shift, and deep domain expertise plus AI leverage is the real moat now.
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