Why one of the world’s greatest mathematicians is on a ‘war footing’

• Terence Tao says AI has put mathematics on a “war footing” after OpenAI claimed major breakthroughs, including the Navier-Stokes problem, and released over 350 findings across many fields.
• He says the rush is hurting young mathematicians, who may lose years of work, and fears AI is being used mainly to test models rather than help science.
• Tao and other mathematicians want math education to change, with more human-centred training, stronger oral defences, and greater use of AI for creativity and new patterns.

LOS ANGELES – Terence Tao is typically described as one of the world’s greatest living mathematicians, but right now, he is doing very little math.

“I’m on a war footing,” he said while grabbing coffee during a two-day math workshop at UCLA that was rife with talk about the existential crisis that artificial intelligence has created in his field.