Terence Tao: AI may discourage mathematicians and hasn't produced genuinely new math ideas
Hesamation · x · 2026-10-29
Terence Tao says AI is discouraging mathematicians and may damage the field's future. AI can solve problems but "hasn't really made new connections, discovered new ideas or allowed us to understand existing theory better" — we're "brute force throwing it at problems." On OpenAI's Navier-Stokes solution: the 100-page AI-generated proof came with a formal certificate so it's correct, but "we've learned about nothing mathematically from what they did." Researchers now fear AI will scoop their results. Still, he sees huge untapped potential.
More from AGI Musings
- Altman's 'don't do the deferred life plan' advice strikes a chord about spending your 20s — menhguin · 2026-10-29
- Dev criticizes 'Tall Poppy' mindset after publishing AI research within months of starting — menhguin · 2026-10-29
- davidad: STEM hobbyists should let go of the frontier, not defend it — davidad · 2026-10-29
- Scott Aaronson: AI labs are solving century-old math problems to show off before IPOs — AnnaCiaunica · 2026-10-29
- Critic says closed weights hide personas from users, but that doesn't prove models aren't general-purpose actors — aiamblichus · 2026-10-29
- Generative AI is adversarially optimized to seem better than it is, warns Ivan Vendrov — dhadfieldmenell · 2026-10-29