AI Solved the Problem. What Happens to the Student? | Terence Tao

Terence Tao sees mathematics moving from a scarcity of proofs to an abundance of results. What happens to understanding, student training, and the community built around solving problems? In this Numberphile conversation with Brady Haran, Tao describes the end of a “heroic era” of mathematics, the opportunities offered by tools such as ChatGPT and Lean, and his concern that research problems can disappear before young mathematicians have a chance to learn from them. He argues for more collaborative projects and a clearer view of how mathematical ideas are developed. He also distinguishes the researchers he knows inside AI labs from the incentives of their institutions, and gives an early, explicitly partial assessment of the recent AI-generated papers—including ideas he finds especially clever. 00:00 Drowning in proofs 00:12 What happens after the answer? 00:34 The end of the heroic era 01:32 Technology and understanding 03:11 A problem can be a training ground 04:56 Collaborative mathematics 05:53 Show how the ideas are made 06:49 Researchers and company incentives 08:38 An early assessment of the papers 09:32 What is worth keeping? Original interview: Numberphile — No More Heroes - Terence Tao Talks to Numberphile About AI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAnwMdfcMVw Published October 15, 2026. Portrait credit: David Esquivel / UCLA. Follow AI Signal for AI news that matters. https://www.youtube.com/@AIxSignal #TerenceTao #Mathematics #AI #Numberphile