Terence Tao predicts AI will finally bring division of labor to math

terence tao outlines how ai and formal verification will reshape pure mathematics by introducing a division of labor previously impossible in the field. historically, mathematicians managed the entire pipeline alone, but tao envisions a shift to 'industrial mathematics' where large teams use ai for broad but shallower research. he warns that the utility of ai depends directly on the rigor of verification to prevent a flood of untested ideas. this model positions humans to make 'inspired guesses' while ai processes billions of data points.