Terence Tao Criticizes AI Math Proofs for Damaging Field Development
Fields Medalist Terence Tao argues that while AI can produce correct proofs for complex problems like Navier-Stokes, its 'automated strip mining' approach damages the long-term health of mathematical fields. He contends that these opaque solutions cause community disarray and hinder future researchers from understanding and building upon the work.
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Rohan Paul (@rohanpaul_ai) · 2026-11-01 13
Terence Tao has a problem with how AI is doing math, and it has nothing to do with whether the proofs are correct. 😀
Mathematicians wanted AI as a calculator, not a competitor.
"So, there was quite a lot of activity around Navier-Stokes, and now it’s all kind of in disarray. Eventually, we will recover. I think eventually we will understand that proof, and eventually people will come back into the field, but the way it was done was very suboptimal.
I think there’s a responsible way to solve problems that develops a field, and then there’s this irresponsible way, which is this emerging, sort of automated strip mining of these problems, where you get your immediate goal but at the cost of damaging the future development of the field."
- Terence Tao
Full video on "New Scientist" YouTube channel, (link in comment)
