Terence Tao just published a 27-slide deck on what AI is doing to mathematics
>Tao: math was built on proofs being scarce, and that era is over
>verdict: “we are now entering an era of proof abundance in mathematics”
>with enough compute AI can solve many open problems with no expertise required
>the field’s entire incentive structure was built for proof scarcity
>problem-solving was only ever a proxy for deeper goals
>that structure is now "misaligned"
>“blind optimization of problem-solving alone is now actively harmful”
>problems are lighthouses, not destinations
>reaching them prematurely with AI “sterilizes the surrounding field”
>calls AI math hype the WWII survivorship-bias plane
>“Wow, all the math problems I am seeing on social media are being solved by AI!”
>labels the red dots as the failures you don’t see
>“Unreported failed AI attempts”
>then drops a thought experiment:
>prompt AI to "find a cancer cure that passes a stage 3 clinical trial"
>prediction "confirmed in Lean" and passes the trial
>everyone celebrates
>"nobody truly knows how this cocktail was found"
>Tao asks the real question:
>did the AI cure cancer, or did it mathematically game flaws in the trial protocol?
>”before injecting this cocktail into your bloodstream, would you want to know that there is at least one human cancer expert who understands the mechanism behind this cure?”
>solution: “tailored, open-source math models” built for “interpretability and safety”
>“open math models to be released very soon - stay tuned!”

Math 2.0 is officially happening

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