2015 panel resurfaces: Tao vs Kontsevich on AI replacing mathematicians
Singularitarian · x · 2026-10-14
A 2015 Breakthrough Prize math panel clip is making rounds again. Asked by Yuri Milner whether computers could do to mathematics what they did to chess:
- Terence Tao: computers will let us work far more efficiently, but "it will still be humans driving the show, I'm pretty sure."
- Maxim Kontsevich: "perfectly possible in our lifetime... I don't think artificial intelligence is pretty hard, so it will be pretty soon."
Kontsevich later also shared that an AI agent proposed a better definition of the problem he was working on — "so I'm shocked." The contrast between the two predictions, plus Kontsevich's recent firsthand surprise at AI, makes the decade-old exchange striking in hindsight.
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