Terry Tao using coding agents to build apps means we're one step away from a Fields Medalist asking an LLM why his Docker container won't start, just like the rest of us.
"as such [LLM-coded interactive] supplements are not mission-critical to the core of the paper, I again feel that the downside risk of using guided interaction with LLM agents to generate such visualizations is acceptable."
It's a tool. Good for some things but not others and generally not to be trusted.
I am far from a mathematician but I am excited by the possibilities of using AI for generating more math. Math in my mind exists purely in the world of forms, and cannot be appropriated for profit, but is downstream to everything else. I am keen to see what this enables.
I always enjoy these "domain expert has fun using AI to do something in their domain" articles. But it's always a hobby project, never something serious.
The article's awkward opening statement proves it wasn't written by AI.
I have been interested in machine-assisted ways to do and teach mathematics from as far back as 1999, when I started coding several applets in Java 1.0, both for my complex analysis and linear algebra courses, to visualize various mathematical objects I was interested in (such as honeycombs or Besicovitch sets).
When it comes to coding, non-programmers do not have to be in a defensive position worried that their job is under risk, instead they just see a great tool that saves them time, especially doing boring coding like dashboards, visualizations, interactive web-pages, or doing experiments that they otherwise would not have time for.
Why are mathematicians a kind of programmers? Besides applied maths, aren't they more researchers that explore and discover, in contrast to the majority of programmers who are more like handymen?
Terry Tao using coding agents to build apps means we're one step away from a Fields Medalist asking an LLM why his Docker container won't start, just like the rest of us.
Before LLM there has already been Fields medalist[0] who creates professional software[1].
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Hairer
[1]: https://www.hairersoft.com/
This is a very humbling thought, thank you.
Nice balanced perspective there at the end:
"as such [LLM-coded interactive] supplements are not mission-critical to the core of the paper, I again feel that the downside risk of using guided interaction with LLM agents to generate such visualizations is acceptable."
It's a tool. Good for some things but not others and generally not to be trusted.
I am far from a mathematician but I am excited by the possibilities of using AI for generating more math. Math in my mind exists purely in the world of forms, and cannot be appropriated for profit, but is downstream to everything else. I am keen to see what this enables.
I always enjoy these "domain expert has fun using AI to do something in their domain" articles. But it's always a hobby project, never something serious.
The article's awkward opening statement proves it wasn't written by AI.
I have been interested in machine-assisted ways to do and teach mathematics from as far back as 1999, when I started coding several applets in Java 1.0, both for my complex analysis and linear algebra courses, to visualize various mathematical objects I was interested in (such as honeycombs or Besicovitch sets).
Using LLMs to generate dashboards is probably their most productive use case
The more Terry talks about AI, the more I'm starting to feel like Terry may have some undisclosed conflicts of interest.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mathematics/comments/1tryyw7/terenc...
When it comes to coding, non-programmers do not have to be in a defensive position worried that their job is under risk, instead they just see a great tool that saves them time, especially doing boring coding like dashboards, visualizations, interactive web-pages, or doing experiments that they otherwise would not have time for.
A lot of mathematicians are worried: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/06/mathematicians-w...
Mathematicians are a kind of programmers, the original ones.
Why are mathematicians a kind of programmers? Besides applied maths, aren't they more researchers that explore and discover, in contrast to the majority of programmers who are more like handymen?
"When it comes to a field I'm not an expert in, AI is a great tool."
Every time.
Yes, because AI gets the "shape" of something right. If you don't know the field you don't notice the pockmarked surface.
I think the opposite is true.
Or he just finds it an incredible time-saving tool to help him do more maths.
The well-known bias and conflict of interest of "I just enjoy experimenting with this new thing".