OpenAI announced an independent Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, hosted at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, to give mathematicians input into its math research. The move follows OpenAI's claim that an internal model solved the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize problem plus over 100 other open math problems, and comes after 25 Fields Medal winners signed a letter warning AI labs are undermining mathematical scholarship. Nine mathematicians have joined as founding members of the unpaid advisory body.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-21
A blog post highlighted by developer tsoding breaks down 3D perspective projection into one basic operation: dividing a point's x and y coordinates by its z (depth) value. The piece demonstrates this with live shader examples, showing how a ball's position and size shrink toward a vanishing point as it moves farther from the camera along the z-axis.
gabrieloc.com
· 2026-09-19
In a guest post, 3Blue1Brown creator Grant Sanderson argues that as AI systems become capable of generating proofs without genuine understanding, mathematicians should formalize and reward 'motivated explanations' as academic work on par with solving open problems. He contends this shift would better reflect what mathematicians actually contribute beyond just producing correct proofs.
terrytao.wordpress.com
· 2026-09-19
An amateur mathematician spent a month using a frontier AI model to attempt a formal Lean proof of John Conway's refinement conjecture about omnific integers in surreal number theory, a problem posed 50 years ago. The proof reportedly passed mechanical verification through the Palomar registry, and some Lean and field experts said the statement appears correct, though full independent mathematical verification is still pending.
overreacted.io
· 2026-09-18
The Information reports that OpenAI is working toward claiming a solution to the Hodge Conjecture, one of mathematics' famous unsolved problems, but is largely focused on how to announce such a result without further angering the math community. This comes amid ongoing tension between OpenAI and mathematicians over prior claims about AI's mathematical capabilities.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-18
A review examines three widely cited benchmark resources: the sirupsen/napkin-math GitHub project used for computer performance estimation interviews, a senior-level SWE-Bench coding evaluation, and standardized winter tire test ratings. The piece walks through each dataset's numbers and methodology, inviting readers to form their own estimates before revealing where the figures may be misleading or inconsistent.
danluu.com
· 2026-09-11
A new study examined whether phone tutoring could offset learning losses when schools close, finding that students who received such tutoring showed measurable gains in math performance compared to peers without access to it. The research points to remote, low-tech tutoring as a viable stopgap during disruptions to in-person schooling.
nature.com
· 2026-09-09
For over a decade, computer science was seen as the surest path to a lucrative tech job, fueling a nearly 500% surge in CS degrees since 2008. Now, as artificial intelligence automates many coding tasks and shrinks entry-level tech hiring, some observers argue that math degrees may offer better long-term career security than CS.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-08-29
A mathematically crafted sculpture highlights a special set of dice built so that rolling them against each other never results in a tie. Unlike standard six-sided dice, which carry a 1-in-6 chance of matching results, these 60-sided dice are engineered around number theory principles to guarantee a distinct winner every time.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-08-27
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