AI is 'burning the coal' of unsolved math problems that train future mathematicians
JnBrymn · x · 2026-10-14
Commenting on Giordano Scarciotti's argument, the author makes a counterintuitive point:
- The "little unsolved math problems" AI can now trivially solve are actually learning resources; AI-driven solution factories are automating the destruction of these resources.
- Analogy: like digging up all the world's coal and burning it just to prove it can be burned — we're losing stepping-stone problems.
- Core argument: a solution's result is usually worthless in itself (Fermat's Last Theorem's conclusion builds no bridges), but the new mathematical connections Wiles discovered while proving it were the real value.
- Implication: AI mass-solving these problems deprives future mathematicians of the tools and connections gained by wrestling with them — a deeper loss than what AI actually solves.
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