September 14, 20262 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmThe new declaration reflects many mathematicians’ growing alarm over a “severe misalignment” between the tech industry and their field, a week after AI toppled one of math’s biggest open problemsBy Joseph Howlett edited by Lee Billings Moor Studio/Getty ImagesRead about how mathematicians are dealing with the AI takeover of their field in our newest feature here.Top mathematicians are increasingly pushing back against the tech industry’s artificial intelligence-powered incursion into their field.A statement released on Friday, signed by 25 winners of math’s highest prize, the Fields medal, decries a “severe misalignment” between AI companies’ goals and those of the discipline. The declaration closes out perhaps the most consequential week in math’s history, with OpenAI claiming a solution to one of the seven “Millennium Prize Problems,” considered the subject’s hardest open questions.The declaration speaks to the breakneck pace of the ongoing race AI companies are engaged in, as they attempt to solve the highest-profile open problems to demonstrate their models’ capabilities. The goal of mathematics is not only to solve problems, the declaration argues, but to advance the “conceptual understanding and insight” of the humans who practice it. This human culture is being endangered by the “mass production” of AI-generated proofs.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.“The mathematical community functions, in many ways, as a miniature version of humanity,” the statement says. “It consists of individuals using a wide variety of different approaches, joined by core values.”Notable among the signatories is Terence Tao, who has been publicly optimistic about AI’s entry on the math scene for years—he appeared in a promotional video from OpenAI just a few months ago—but whose views have evolved recently in the direction of greater concern. On his blog last Wednesday, Tao reflected on “that infamous advertisement” with conflicted emotions. He lamented the current situation, which he says “has deteriorated markedly,” in which companies are “increasingly focused on the race to develop extremely powerful, autonomous AI technologies regardless of their actual value to society.”Tao is not the only mathematical eminence with a rather sudden change of heart. Last week, a number of concerned mathematicians, many of them at the top of their subject, launched the Association for Human Mathematics—an effort which was underway even before the earth-shattering Navier-Stokes news.“Sentiment has been building for a while now that the current relationship between math and AI companies is both harmful and short-sighted,” says Naomi Sweeting, an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of the first signatories. “We're trying to build a future that's good for humans and good for mathematics.”The two new efforts share the perspective that what’s happening in math should be seen as a test case, not some siloed-off conflict the rest of us can ignore. “We see these as part of broader alignment issues impacting other scientific and creative professions,” the Fields medalists’ declaration reads. “As well as the whole of society.”Subscribe to Support Independent JournalismGreat science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber