Terence Tao: AI is ushering math into an era of proof abundance
lmoroney · x · 2026-10-19
Terence Tao has been publicly working through AI's impact on math in a Caltech lecture (Math 2.0) and a Numberphile interview (No More Heroes): AI is moving math into an era of proof abundance, where problems once thought hard can be solved quickly, increasingly without special expertise from the person prompting.
Tao argues problem solving was always a proxy for more valuable long-term goals like building understanding, and optimizing for solved problems alone could hurt the field's long-term health. Reposter Laurence Moroney extends this to every classroom: when a model produces the answer, the work that matters is explaining why it's true — close the chat and teach the solution back in your own words.
Related event: Terence Tao Says AI Ushers Math into an Era of Proof Surplus(2 posts)→
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