Mathematics in the Age of AI
Kevin Hartnett explores how artificial intelligence is transforming mathematical research, with AI systems like DeepMind's AlphaTensor and OpenAI's o1 model discovering new conjectures and proofs. While AI can generate insights and tackle combinatorial problems, it also raises questions about the nature of mathematical understanding and whether human intuition remains essential.
Background
- Kevin Hartnett is a journalist who writes about mathematics for Quanta Magazine; this interview is hosted by Quanta Books, a new book-publishing arm of the same outlet.
- The conversation explores how AI (especially large language models and specialized tools like DeepMind's AlphaProof) is starting to change mathematical research — not just solving problems but generating conjectures and spotting patterns in data that humans might miss.
- Central tension: math has traditionally valued rigorous, human-readable proof. AI can produce correct results through opaque processes, challenging what it means to "understand" mathematics.
- Prior context: AlphaProof made news in 2024 by performing at a silver-medal level in the International Mathematical Olympiad, a famously hard contest for top high-school students.
- Hartnett's recent book "The Proof" covers the Langlands program, one of the most ambitious unification projects in modern mathematics, giving him a sharp eye for how AI might interact with deep open problems.