Can AI Prove It? Terence Tao on “Big Math” and Our Theoretical Future | The Futurology Podcast

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Math prodigy Terence Tao thinks math’s next breakthroughs won’t come from a lone genius, but from collaboration– with both humans and AI. | Subscribe to Futurology! https://linkin.bio/futurology/ As AI floods the world with answers that merely sound right, math tethers them to the need to be actually right. New machine learning tools and collaboration platforms are pushing theoretical mathematics toward something bigger: large, open projects where progress is shared early; rabbit holes are avoided; and more people can contribute. In this episode, Terence Tao, a Fields Medal-winning mathematician at UCLA, lays out his case for “big math.” He explains what AI can do well — and where it still fails. The question isn’t whether machines can produce answers. It’s whether we can build systems, human and technical, that keep those answers tethered to truth. Subscribe to the Berggruen Institute on YouTube to be the first to listen to new Futurology episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Berggrueninst Catch up on the Futurology https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyYCSKWs8iYgjg-mhu-EuhTrG0-adrb0c conversation with full episodes on YouTube. Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/futurology/id1821718921 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2I38HvHP6KlXrD5ysfygxk?si=XB2qyyGjT2ONMTd5XUKJAg&nd=1&dlsi=ac8cda6751834298 Mentioned in this Episode: Green-Tao Theorem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green%E2%80%93Tao_theorem The Primes Contain Arbitrarily Long Arithmetic Progressions — Ben Green & Terence Tao (Paper, 2004) https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0404188?utm_ Observation of a New Boson at a Mass of 125 GeV With the CMS Experiment at the LHC — The CMS Collaboration (Paper, 2012) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269312008581?utm_ Chapters (0:00) Introduction (1:38) Terence’s Accelerated Education in Australia (3:21) Pure Math, Wave Equations, and an Impact on MRI Tech (5:16) The Social Experience of Skipping Five Grades (7:30) Why Math Clicked Early for Terence (9:20) Turning Abstraction in Math into a Career (10:53) How Mathematicians Choose Problems and Build a Field (13:28) How Collaboration Became Normal in Mathematics (16:10) Prime Numbers, the Green-Tao Theorem, and Secret Patterns (24:09) The Low Cost of Failure and the Culture of Problem Solving (29:19) “Rubber Ducking” and Why Explaining a Problem Helps (32:04) Cutting Redundancy and Modernizing How Math Gets Done (34:18) Math Software and Whether AI Tools Can Help Mathematicians (35:44) Computation at Scale and the Rise of Experimental Math (38:19) The Implications of Mathematics at Scale (44:46) AI’s Downsides and the Need for a “Mental Diet” (49:40) Teaching With AI and Finding New Ways to Assess Students (52:17) Funding Cuts, Uncertainty, and the Stress on Universities (58:45) Mathematicians Collaborating with Social Media Companies (1:00:20) What Are We Getting Wrong Right Now? Where to find Terence Tao: Mastodon: mathstodon.xyz/@tao Blog: terrytao.wordpress.com Home Page: www.math.ucla.edu/~tao/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/teorth.bsky.social Want to share suggestions or feedback? Email [email protected] Keep up to Date with the Berggruen Institute at: https://www.berggruen.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berggrueninst Twitter/X: https://www.x.com/berggrueninst Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/berggrueninst LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/berggrueninst Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/futurologypod.bsky.social Credits Executive Producers: Nicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels, Nils Gilman, Dawn Nakagawa, and Jason Hoch. Producers: Grant Slater, Alex Gardels, and Nathalia Ramos. Associate Producer: Elissa Mardiney Theme Music: Marcus Bagala Audio Engineer: Aaron Bastinelli & Kyle Scott Wilson Futurology is a production of Studio B and Wavland for the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles, California.