AI companies’ feud with mathematicians is only escalating, after an open letter raised questions about plagiarism and uncredited work. This comes on the heels of OpenAI withdrawing a sponsorship of a math conference at Caltech.
Fields Medalists Warn of ‘Severe Misalignment‘
Twenty-five winners of the Fields Medal, including Terence Tao and Maryna Viazovska, two of the most respected mathematicians working today, signed a letter titled “A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics.”
In the letter, they argued that AI companies’ efforts to compete in solving famous mathematical problems are harmful to the field of mathematics and to the broader mathematical community.
They also said that these solutions are often announced in a rush, leaving no time for proper write-ups, isolating new methods and ideas, or crediting relevant prior work. “As in all creative professions, this raises severe attribution and plagiarism questions,” the mathematicians noted.
