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On 6 October 2026, an announcement sent shock waves through the mathematical world: OpenAI released 722 manuscripts claiming breakthroughs across hundreds of mathematical problems, including questions that had resisted researchers for decades. The scale and speed of the release stunned mathematicians and opened an urgent debate about the changing nature of their discipline.
Alain Goriely explores the use of computers in mathematics and its dramatic acceleration through artificial intelligence. He considers the profound disruption facing today’s mathematicians, as longstanding research programmes and careers are thrown into uncertainty. Yet he argues that this upheaval also opens a new era for mathematics, with fresh possibilities for learning, discovery, and understanding, and new opportunities for research, teaching, and human creativity.
Alain Goriely is Statutory Professor of Mathematical Modelling, University of Oxford, and Gresham Professor of Geometry at Gresham College.
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The lecture will be broadcast on the Oxford Mathematics YouTube Channel on Thursday 17 December at 5-6 pm and any time after (no need to register for the online version).
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.