I'm currently returning to Toronto from a summit on the future of mathematics, at OpenAI. Sebastian Bubeck asked me to talk a bit about the future we'd all like to avoid, where humans are mathematically disempowered. Jacob Tsimerman advised us to try to prioritize detail over correctness, and I have no doubt that I succeeded in deprioritizing correctness.
Mathematics in the Library of Babel — Daniel Litt
Mathematics isn't only about saying true things. It's about asking the right questions, being confused, stumbling about, getting distracted, being wrong, recognizing when you're wrong, being stuck. Mostly being stuck. It's about clinging to a giant edifice and feeling it out until you understand som
Bartosz Naskręcki on Twitter / X
Congrats to @LechMazur for the solution and to Terence Tao for the digestion and storytelling. You see the trend. Mathematicians are still needed if we want to make any sense of the formal proofs. For now... Maybe the next gen LLMs will simply read allthe blogs of Terry and… https://t.co/yXiISCrNAF— Bartosz Naskręcki (@nasqret) August 13, 2026
Embracing AI and formalization: Experimenting with tomorrow’s mathematical tools
Embracing AI and formalization: Experimenting with tomorrow’s mathematical tools. By Jarod Alper
Knowing and Doing: October 2018 Archives
I like this passage from John Urschel Goes Pro, about the former NFL player who is pursuing a Ph.D. in math:
Mathematical Thinking Isn’t What You Think It Is | Quanta Magazine
The mathematician David Bessis claims that everyone is capable of, and can benefit greatly from, mathematical thinking.
When A.I. Comes for Your Purpose in Life
In the span of just a few months, A.I. systems have solved some of the biggest outstanding problems in math — adding mathematicians to the list of those terrified of losing their job to the technology.
Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics - E. Wigner
Reprinted from Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, Vol. 13, No. I (February 1960). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 1960 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mathematics in the age of AI
An essay, based on a public lecture delivered at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians, on how the mathematical community might respond to the arrival of artificial intelligence tools that are capable of performing research-level mathematical tasks. Rather than debating the capabilities of such tools, we condition on the hypothesis that these capabilities will arrive, and examine instead a question that is orthogonal to it: what the goals and values of mathematical research actually are. The problem-solving component of mathematics is used as a case study.
Formalising mathematics: an introduction.
An introduction to the TCC course “Formalising Mathematics”
Kill Math
The power to understand and predict the quantities of the world should not be restricted to those with a freakish knack for manipulating abstract symbols.
Talia Ringer 🕊🪬 on Twitter / X
Poured my heart and soul into advocating for formal proof with AI assistance in a mathematical setting because of the large collaborations I thought it could empower. (1/3)— Talia Ringer 🕊🪬 (@TaliaRinger) September 10, 2026
Thomas Wolf on Twitter / X
Very thoughtful piece from Kevin Buzzard (perfect IMO score, number theorist, pioneer of formal maths in Lean)if math is not just about “human understanding,” then what is it about?and if ai capabilities keep growing exponentially what happens since “mathematics is infinite”? https://t.co/h7yYmZS01T pic.twitter.com/wFp2fec52Q— Thomas Wolf (@Thom_Wolf) October 2, 2026
Is AI the End of Math As We Know It? | Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians are facing the sudden shift with grief, anger, and a desperate search for fresh ideas: “If we don’t adapt, there’s just no more math in 50 years.”
Thoughtful and relevant outside math. A partial summary: Gowers thinks it’s important to sustain a human mathematical culture, but is unconvinced by the Leiden Declaration’s attempt to do that by reaffirming human ownership of specific *discoveries*.
tachikoma
an interesting blog post by Timothy Gowers on the Leiden declaration (on AI and Math), on why he didn't sign. it gets to a subtler aspect of control over AI and our future.
