Terence Tao calls for ‘Maths 2.0’ as AI floods the field with proofs (opens the source in a new tab)
- In a Nature World View column, Fields medallist Terence Tao says AI-aided proofs have appeared for hundreds of long-standing problems in recent months, and calls for a ‘Maths 2.0’ no longer defined by scarce proofs.
- He flags costs: OpenAI’s 6 October release of hundreds of solutions disrupted research programmes; many AI results miss publication standards; credit for prior work is unclear; juniors lose a route to recognition.
- He warns understanding lags output, ‘proof indigestion’, and sees similar risks in opaque models used for bank lending.
- 100s
- long-standing problems with AI-aided proofs
- 6 Oct
- OpenAI’s mass release of solutions
Why it matters When proofs become cheap, understanding becomes the scarce good. The same gap appears wherever banks and funds lean on models nobody can explain.
Other side Tao uses AI in his own research and says that, used creatively and with the right incentives, it could deepen understanding. The upheaval may be a transition cost, not a lasting loss.