"AI Has Overwhelmed Human Exam Questions": Terence Tao and Mark Chen in Conversation - Large Language Models No Longer 'Math Underachievers'

Summary

"AI Has Overwhelmed Human Exam Questions," A Conversation Between Terence Tao and Mark Chen: Large Language Models Are No Longer "Math Underachievers" Recently, at a seminar hosted by the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM), Fields Medalist Terence Tao and Mark Chen, the Chief Researcher at OpenAI, participated in a "fireside chat." The two discussed the leap - forward progress of AI in the past year and how it will fundamentally change the way of mathematical research. During the conversation, Terence Tao and Mark Chen discussed the key changes in AI capabilities. A year ago, Terence Tao once commented that GPT's performance in mathematics was "like a very inefficient graduate student." Today, AI has won gold - level results in the IMO competition, and the benchmark tests written by humans are being rapidly "broken." It can be said that in the field of mathematics, large models have basically shed the label of "poor student." In Terence Tao's view, mathematics is a place where experiments are inexpensive and where trial - and - error is inexpensive. "If you are an engineer and a bridge collapses, that's an expensive mistake; if you are a surgeon and cut the wrong organ, that's an expensive mistake." As AI begins to quickly solve some Erdős problems that have long been ignored, the mathematical community is also re - thinking the division of research labor, human - machine collaboration, and changes in the education system. When calculation and verification can be outsourced to machines, the form of mathematical research may be quietly changing. The following is the highlights of the "fireside chat" between Terence Tao and Mark Chen: Question: What was your evaluation of AI's performance in mathematics a year ago? What changes have occurred in the past year? Terence Tao: The changes are very significant. AI itself is progressing, but more importantly, it has begun to integrate into our daily research. The current in - depth research and literature search are far more effective than traditional methods, and code generation is also quite reliable. Terence Tao, a Fields Medalist, a Chinese - American mathematician, and a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles As a pure mathematician, I don't rely heavily on AI, but it has indeed changed my habit of handling problems. For example, if I want to verify a certain conjecture, I'll let…