Mathematicians issue warning as AI rapidly gains ground

As artificial intelligence (AI) muscles its way into field after field, researchers have wrestled with what it means for the future of their disciplines. Few communities have felt that pressure more acutely than mathematicians, who have haplessly watched AI get frighteningly smart, frighteningly fast. Today, 16 math specialists have turned that unease into a public cry for help—and call to action. Part warning, part manifesto, the 11-page Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics cautions that unchecked automation threatens not only how math is practiced, but what the discipline stands for. It also lays out principles for using AI in ways that support, rather than erode, the field. For years, AI researchers have used math as a proving ground for their models. By their nature, math problems are easily gradable and offer an effectively unlimited training pool, and building AI models that can prove theorems is widely seen as a steppingstone toward higher performing reasoning systems. But AI is no longer confined to just straightforward tricks. Last month, OpenAI reported one of its newest general-purpose reasoning models had independently solved a famous, 80-year-old conjecture—only the latest feat in a series of breakthroughs pushing AI to the frontiers of the subject. However, the declaration argues math is more than a machine for producing correct answers. The discipline, its authors believe, is a deeply human endeavor built on creativity, understanding, collaboration, and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. Those values often clash with the incentives driving AI development. “The tech industry proceeds in accordance with commercial logic, which is antithetical to the values of mathematics,” declaration co-author Michael Harris of Columbia University told The New York Times. The authors warn the consequences are already becoming visible. AI-generated papers could overwhelm peer-review systems with low-quality work, make it difficult to assign proper credit for discoveries, and disadvantage researchers who choose not to rely on AI tools. The authors also raise ethical concerns about mathematicians’ work being used to train AI systems for military and surveillance purposes. The declaration, which is endorsed by the International Mathematical Union, the discipline’s leading global body, is now open for signatures from individuals and organizations worldwide.

It will also be discussed at next month’s International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia, which comes as governments are also beginning to take a greater interest in the advancement of AI systems. Today, for example, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at giving federal officials advance access to the most capable AI models before their public release, in part so agencies can prepare for any security threats AI might enable. This story is part of Science’s AI in Science Reporting Initiative, which is supported by Ray Rothrock & family.