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Terence Tao shifts from AI enthusiasm to warning it could end math's deliberative process

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A New Yorker profile of UCLA professor Terence Tao details his changed stance on AI in mathematics, from early enthusiasm to current warnings that AI could destroy the field's deliberative process. The profile notes AI is now solving problems that stumped mathematicians for decades, and colleagues look to Tao for guidance in this altered landscape.

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    A profile of UCLA professor Terence Tao, who was once enthusiastic about AI's role in math but now warns of AI destroying the field's deliberative process (Rivka Galchen/New Yorker)

    Rivka Galchen / New Yorker : A profile of UCLA professor Terence Tao, who was once enthusiastic about AI's role in math but now warns of AI destroying the field's deliberative process — A.I. is solving problems that stumped the field for decades. Mathematicians look to Terence Tao for guidance on their altered world.

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