AI in Mathematics

8th October, 2026.

One of the silver linings of the AI-in-mathematics buzz is the earnest debate on questions like what mathematics is, what/whom it is for, why we do it, etc. These are extremely important questions for education, culture and life. The AI onslaught in mathematics this year has made these questions more urgent than ever.

I am curating a list of my favourite pieces of writing here.

I will update it regularly. Happy to receive recommendations for the list.

2026

• Matilde Marcolli, Duet for the End of Math.
• Alexander Gamburd, The Siren Call of Silicon Leviathan.
• Grant Sanderson, If math is more than proof, we need to better celebrate the rest of it, guest post on Terence Tao’s blog.
• A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics, open statement.
• Stefano Gogioso, Why I am excited, as opposed to frightened, by the AI mathematics revolution.
• Daniel Litt, A beginning for mathematics.
• Francis Su, Love of Humanity Is Not Enough.
• Emily Riehl, Why I do mathematical research, guest post on Terence Tao’s blog.
• Alex Meiburg, Thoughts on AI Solving “Math”.
• Kevin Buzzard, To grieve, or not to grieve?.
• David Bessis, The fall of the theorem economy.
• Anonymous, Could AI Help Mathematics Escape the Meritocracy Trap?.
• Fernando Borretti, No Man Is an Island.
• Tim Gowers in conversation with Rowland Manthorpe, The end of mathematicians?.
• Tristan Buckmaster, Mathematics is a subject for the young, guest post on Terence Tao’s blog.
• Anonymous PhD student, Who will become the new mathematicians of Math 2.0?.
• Álvaro Lozano-Robledo, A Response to “Who will become the new mathematicians of Math 2.0?”.
• Francesco Maggi, Will it be a golden age or a dark age for mathematics (and science)?, guest post on Terence Tao’s blog.
• Anonymous, Who Watches The Watchmen?.

Earlier

• William P. Thurston, On Proof and Progress in Mathematics, 1994.
• David Bessis, We’ve been wrong about math for 2300 years.

Shorter Pieces

• David Bessis, “10 remarks on AI and math…”, post on X, 12 October 2026.
• Daniel Litt, “Apart from general awkwardness…”, post on X, 12 October 2026.
• Amar Hadzihasanovic, “We participate in a millenary tradition…”, post on X, 11 October 2026.
• Alain Connes, On AI for mathematics, 11 October 2026.
• Francesco Maggi, “One thing that seems lost…”, post on X, 9 October 2026.
• Daniel Litt, I think of my goal as a mathematician…, post on X, 9 October 2026.
• David Bessis, “My favorite piece by Thurston…”, post on X, 23 October 2024.

Books

• David Bessis, Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity. Yale University Press, 2025.
• Reuben Hersh (ed.), 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics. Springer, 2006.

Update: 17th October 2026.

I have started adding audio and video materials.

Multimedia

• Grant Sanderson, There’s never been a better time to go into math, 3Blue1Brown, YouTube, 16 October 2026.
• Cédric Villani in conversation with Takahiro Anno, AI and mathematics: OpenAI’s announcement and the mathematicians’ statement, YouTube, 16 October 2026.
• Terence Tao, No More Heroes, Numberphile, YouTube, 15 October 2026.
• Hugo Duminil-Copin, The Strip Mining of Mathematical Proofs, Numberphile Podcast, 14 October 2026.
• Steven Strogatz, When A.I. Comes for Your Purpose in Life, The Daily, New York Times, 13 October 2026.
• Tristan Buckmaster, The Buckmaster Interview (Navier-Stokes), Numberphile, YouTube, 29 September 2026.