Lior Pachter Turns the Fields Medallists' AI Letter Back on Mathematics Itself

Lior Pachter, Bits of DNA / Hacker News·low signalXBlueskyLinkedInCopy link

Pachter's September 12 post on Bits of DNA accepts that AI companies and mathematics have misaligned goals but argues the 25-signatory letter "A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics" ducks the field's own record of failing its people. He lists Juliusz Schauder denied positions over antisemitism and later murdered by Nazis, Olga Ladyzhenskaya passed over for the 1958 Fields Medal despite foundational Navier-Stokes work, Karen Uhlenbeck told institutions would not hire women, and Yitang Zhang whose advisor said no Chinese student is good. His conclusion is that both AI and mathematics should align to understanding, attribution and intellectual generosity rather than to existing institutions.