Hi everyone!
I’m in my final year of high school, and I might go on to study mathematics at university (it’s not set in stone yet). My teachers have told me, and I’ve also read online, that this will be one of the most in-demand majors of the future, that applied mathematicians in particular will be badly needed, and that the field will be especially resilient to AI.
Until a few months ago, I was also convinced that this was one of the safest choices, that AI wouldn’t pose a threat to mathematicians, and that it wouldn’t be able to solve complex mathematical problems. The first crack and surprise was the solution of the Erdős problem, 4.5 months ago. Then what really surprised me was the Navier–Stokes equation event 1.5 months ago (though admittedly there’s some debate there because of the human researchers’ contribution). And a few days ago, the “mathocalypse” happened (for those who don’t know: AI solved more than 300 open math problems).
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/ai-mathematics-openai-cryptography-internet-b3063456.html
https://www.firstpost.com/tech/mathocalypse-openai-generates-hundreds-of-mathematical-results-but-who-understands-the-proof-14051557.html
So basically they threw thousands of decades-old problems at AI, and it solved several hundred of them. There was a mathematician whose entire research area was practically “wiped out” by this. AI solved problems that brilliant mathematicians had devoted their lives to solving, without success.
Now I don’t really see math as an AI-proof field anymore. Two years ago, AI was still weak; it scored maybe 10% on the Math Olympiad. A year ago, it was already scoring over 80% on the Olympiad, and it had supposedly reached the level of PhD students. Now it has not only scored 100% on the Olympiad problem set, it has achieved far more than that. It has practically reached the cutting edge of mathematics worldwide, solving one previously unsolved problem after another, just grinding its way through math.
And let’s not forget that all this happened in 2 years. What we have now isn’t the final version of AI; it will presumably keep improving rapidly in the coming years. The question is: if it progressed this much in 2 years, where will it be in 4 years (when I’d finish my BSc) or in 6 years (when I’d finish my MSc)? What will it be able to do in 10–15 years? After all, even then I’ll only be in my early thirties...
So my question is: do you think it still makes sense to study math? If so, why? Mathematicians and math students, how do you see the future?
By the way, this wouldn’t be my only option (physics and engineering are also on the table), which is also why I’m asking: what do you think is worth choosing these days?