On September 11, a group of 25 Fields Medalists, including Terence Tao, Yitang Zhang, and Peter Scholze, issued a statement titled A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics. The signatories warn that the current focus of AI companies on using mathematical problems as benchmarks for model performance is detrimental to the scientific community.
The statement argues that while large language models have improved at solving mathematical problems, the rapid, automated production of results undermines the traditional, human-centric process of mathematical research. The authors note that mathematical progress relies on deep conceptual understanding, peer interaction, and careful documentation, which are often bypassed by AI systems.
The mathematicians highlight concerns regarding plagiarism and the lack of proper attribution in AI-generated work. They emphasize that without human oversight and the integration of new ideas into the mathematical canon, the value of these intellectual contributions is diminished, threatening the core purpose of scientific inquiry.
Fields Medalist Yitang Zhang commented on the growing anxiety within the mathematical community regarding the impact of AI. While he expressed curiosity about the potential of artificial general intelligence to solve complex problems, he clarified that his recent remarks about retiring to write fiction were intended as a joke.
