Mathematician Alex Kontorovich on why the printed ICM 2026 proceedings still beat LLM browsing
AlexKontorovich · x · 2026-11-11
Rutgers mathematician Alex Kontorovich received the printed Volume Two (Plenary Lectures) of the ICM 2026 proceedings, edited by Susan Friedlander and Yuri Tschinkel. Self-described Luddite: the value of a paper volume is that leafing through it lets your eyes randomly catch something interesting you weren't looking for. He concedes an LLM could probably replicate that serendipity — "so what, I still like my paper copy." A light but telling anecdote on serendipity, print, and LLMs from a prominent academic.
More from AGI Musings
- Gary Marcus says the AI bubble is deflating: Nvidia -16%, CoreWeave -55%, Oracle -52% — GaryMarcus · 2026-11-11
- AI Trials Observatory launches with 93 randomized trials on how AI affects people — DG_Rand · 2026-11-11
- Tech jobs report: PM openings up 56% since 2023 while engineering demand stalls at +2.5% — lennysan · 2026-11-11
- WSJ: Data center buildouts are pulling labor and resources from housing and manufacturing — RebeccaBellan · 2026-11-11
- Tracking Singularity: a curated timeline of AI capability leaps and agent incident reports — dejavucoder · 2026-11-11
- Proposal: AI labs should publish open alignment bounties, no credentials needed — Realistic_Stomach848 · 2026-11-11