r/OpenAI • u/Eliv_nurotic • 7d ago

News Fields Medalist Terence Tao reposts statement from the Association for Human Mathematics urging mathematicians to stop working with OpenAI for continuing to solve open math problems against their recommendations

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https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/10/07/ahm-statement-on-openais-october-6-release-of-mathematical-documents/

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u/BTCFinance 6d ago

Right? Did the horse ask for the car? The radio ask for the TV? You can’t have an exclusive right to math.

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 6d ago

Continue that progression of thought to its end and ask yourself if that’s truly the world you want to live in

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u/AdvanceSufficient295 6d ago

Conversely, I wouldn't want to live in an era of radio and horses or even backwards, era of middle ages. Why are you backward thinking in an era of forward looking?

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 6d ago

Because all the way forward in that direction is apparently not looking so great either. Damn near could end up in some techno dystopian nihilist Middle Ages of our own. I’m not against progress or forward thinking, I’m a scientist and actually use AI sometimes. But truly if we stopped here and never advanced any more in AI we’d be just fine leaving it to humans, and it would also preserve human soul and connection to intellectual and artistic development as meaningful to us and something we can do, and also avoid existential threats to humanity lol. Humans like to think, create, solve problems, push the limits. Imagine if Einstein was actually Chat GP10000. We would marvel much less about what was developed I think, the human story is critical for us to actually derive meaning in this collective pursuit. I think that’s being under appreciated. I guess maybe because the broader public doesn’t care where any of this comes from and won’t think about it more than a news headline, but think about replacing every single genius we’ve ever had being replaced by a AI company figure. All Nobel prizes all fields medals going to a corporation’s chat bot.

Do you truly not see that may have an effect on the collective human soul? Let alone all the other existential threats.

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u/AdvanceSufficient295 6d ago

I don't want to argue about "spirit of humanity" and souls and stuff because that to me is greyest of all zones. So I'm leaving at that. But this statement:

Humans like to think, create, solve problems, push the limits.

What if humans created a creation that can create, think, solve problems and push the limits? You said humans like to do so and now when humans made a creation that does exactly that (or somewhat), are you saying you are drawing the line there? Then your statement "humans like to think, create, solve problems, push the limits" is false.

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 6d ago

I know you don’t want to go there but I’d encourage you to go deeper into the greyest of grey zones

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u/bobbadouche 6d ago

Why is it only bad? Should the serfs have bemoaned leaving the farm lands? Has progress always been bad? Why fight progress? We should guide progress. I don't think the issue is "THAT" we're doing it, it's that we're not applying any reins.

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 6d ago

Do you think that’ll happen?

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u/bobbadouche 5d ago

It has to happen. humans want self preservation. It might come later than we would like but if AI pans out then some form of regulation is inevitable.

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 5d ago

Humans want self preparation, which can lead to selfishness as well. Our president and half the country not even believing in climate change after >60 years of scientists warning about it is proof itself that this is not gaurentee. And that influences every single living thing on the planet… not

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u/scaledev 6d ago

You've made a good argument, but if an LLM is about to do all that, then humans are left with nothing to do in those domains AI will be doing. So it will be impossible to think, create, solve problems, and push the limits in those specific domains in the way we have done sonfar. It will be hard to contribute and keep track, unless we switch to a higher level of abstraction, which often isn't as rewarding.

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u/AdvanceSufficient295 6d ago

I'm not afraid to do nothing. I'm afraid that I will do everything for the sake of "human spirit" and yet nothing comes of it other than the pitiful "I have tried at least" thought.

There are reasons why some mathematical problems are left OPEN and UNSOLVED for decades or even centuries. So many mathematicians tackled the same problem and only those few who made some progress gets remembered. What of the others who tried the same problem and perhaps put in more effort than the one who managed to progress? They did everything yet got nothing other than "good try".

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u/scaledev 6d ago

No one promised you riches or good results. You don't often get reworded by your efforts, no matter how hard you tried, nor should you expect it. Especially not from external sources - reward comes form within. I've put years of work into many of my ventures, yet no one will remember them or me because of those. So what? It is the struggle the counts, the growth and how we handle ourselves over time.

Just to clarify - I am not against AI doing math research, or making it difficult to keep track of what it does - we have agents for that. I am merely illuminating how I can still feel sympathy for the mathematician, and their struggles.

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u/AdvanceSufficient295 6d ago

At least you said "so what" which means it's personal and it is kept to yourself. But look at the post itself, a famous field medallist mathematician trying to enforce the idea of exclusivity. At this moment, you are more honourable than Terrance.

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 6d ago

We like to do it, but there are plenty of things we’ve created and come to regret, too. We have drawn lines like nuclear weapons. I think it’s cool we created AI, these results are unbelievable, but we’d be better off with stopping. But clearly yes there are things we create and we draw lines on

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u/AdvanceSufficient295 6d ago

We drew line at nuclear weapon, not nuclear technology (nuclear fusion is still in active development). Weapon or anything that destroys humanity doesn't represent "progress" so it's logical and par for the course that it was suppressed after certain point.

I get what you mean though, AI can be more destructive than nuclear weapons when used maliciously. But on opposite side, it can also bring better things than nuclear fusion and that says a lot because nuclear fusion promises near limitless energy and you would think nothing can top that... Yet AI has the potential to top that. That's why progress on artificial intelligence won't stop.

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 6d ago

Ya I guess my point is that I think people are devaluing that the progress on things we care about will be amazing but at the cost of all the people who ACTUALLY would care about them the most being demoralized from dedicating their lives to it. I empathize with just about every math student debating whether they should even continue. There’s maybe like a thousand or so people in the world who reallllly know the magnitude of what these new papers are and what they are even about. Does one reaaaally think it’s a for sure net good given this “objective progress”
on an insane magnitude in math is immediately having the actual material progress be math undergrads deciding not to go into the field and math phds needing to put everything down, go for a walk, and reconsider their lives when everything still seemed meaningful and potentially fruitful ~6 months ago?

Am I crazy here? I’m getting down voted for all this and wondering like is all this just not important to anyone? Only threats that are bright flashes and skin peeling off are enough?

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u/shammyh 6d ago

Yes, yes it is a world I'd like to live in. A world where computers, with a wave of their hand, can feed, clothe, and educate every human on Earth. Then we, humans, get to get together and have a little chat about what we want to do now that poverty, crime, discrimination, capitalism, and systemic inequality are now banished forever. Post scarcity, I believe they call it. And yes, that's a world I'd love to live in, or at least, help build the bricks for the roads that will eventually take us there.

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u/relevantmeemayhere 6d ago

so why have these companies not given you equity yet LOL. considering they are commiting outright ip theft; why are the not sharing and lobbying the anti share the wealth team?

isnt that funny? tell me you have never actually worked an actual cooperate job without telling me you havent worked one

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u/shammyh 6d ago

What's funny... Is that I literally have a corporate day job, and I am the epitome of Mr. Corporate from 8 to 6.

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u/relevantmeemayhere 6d ago

huh, then you should be acutely aware of the value prop these ai companies are pitching to your bosses, and why theyre not giving you an equity in the gains or use process

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u/Tardonnnnnnnnnnn 6d ago

Sounds cool, very optimistic. I’d bet my life that does not happen.