The Guardian view on AI v mathematicians: humans are still vital to the field, but tech firms refuse to see that | Editorial
But questions remain about how useful and independent its work really isSun 20 Sep 2026 12.58 EDTLast modified on Sun 20 Sep 2026 13.00 EDTShareOn 8 September, OpenAI claimed that its AI agents had solved the Navier-Stokes problem, one of the most famous and difficult challenges in mathematics. Had a human solved it, they would have collected both prize money and plaudits from their fellows. OpenAI’s results, like any arising from a large language model, depend on digesting work by human mathematicians.
- ▪But questions remain about how useful and independent its work really isSun 20 Sep 2026 12.58 EDTLast modified on Sun 20 Sep 2026 13.00 EDTShareOn 8 September, OpenAI claimed that its AI agents had solved the Navier-Stokes problem, one of t
- ▪Had a human solved it, they would have collected both prize money and plaudits from their fellows.
- ▪OpenAI’s results, like any arising from a large language model, depend on digesting work by human mathematicians.
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| Original publisher | The Guardian — Science |
| Canonical URL | https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/20/the-guardian-view-on-ai-v-mathematicians-humans-are-still-vital-to-the-field-but-tech-firms-refuse-to-see-that |
| Publication time | Sun, 20 Sep 2026 16:58:03 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-09-20T17:03:47.794Z |
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‘This lack of attribution and compensation for the human labour that AI is built on has turned many professional fields against the companies that develop these systems.’ Photograph: AlamyView image in fullscreen‘This lack of attribution and compensation for the human labour that AI is built on has turned many professional fields against the companies that develop these systems.’ Photograph: AlamyOpinionAI (artificial intelligence)The Guardian view on AI v mathematicians: humans are still vital to the field, but tech firms refuse to see thatEditorialOpenAI claims its agents have solved the Navier-Stokes problem.
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