"Stop crying about AI math": Redditor rebuts mathematicians' four big complaints one by one
northward_42 · reddit · 2026-10-12
A Reddit post pushes back against mathematicians protesting OpenAI models solving hard math problems, arguing the community is overreacting.
Key points:
- AI didn't remove anything from mathematics, only added; worst case it's "slop" you can simply ignore.
- "We'll have to review all this slop" — no, just don't.
- "My favorite puzzle was solved, the journey was the point" — then don't look at the solution.
- "Future generations won't be motivated" — stopping progress over that is unjustified.
- "The solutions are cryptic and gave no new understanding" — then the problems weren't fully solved and there's still plenty to explore.
The post crystallizes the core tension between the math community and rapidly advancing AI: when solving no longer requires humans, is mathematics' value in results or the journey?
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