正文 · AI 翻译
IT Home reported on November 8 that artificial intelligence is lowering the barrier to breakthroughs in mathematical research, but this also means academia may need to reconsider how it recruits talent. A prominent mathematics professor at the University of Chicago believes that, when hiring mathematics researchers in the future, interpersonal communication skills and the ability to articulate research ideas clearly will become more important.
Frank Calegari, a distinguished scholar in mathematics at the University of Chicago, recently discussed his criteria for hiring researchers in an article. He wrote: “I want to know where you hope mathematics will go, and you also need the expertise to explain why that might be possible.”
Calegari worries that, as artificial intelligence tools continue to improve, entry-level research positions across academia may be filled by students whose results may simply stem from extensive use of AI-generated proofs.
However, he believes a 30-minute face-to-face conversation is enough to distinguish between two kinds of candidates: those who merely churn out low-quality research in bulk and those who have a clear research vision and can express it well.
In an article published on Terence Tao’s blog, Calegari said: “The hiring process will have to rely more on direct person-to-person communication, rather than merely reviewing written materials.”
He also criticized what he called “lazy hiring committees,” saying that in the past such committees decided whether to hire students based solely on a paper or an academic achievement, whereas such results could now be entirely AI-generated.
He said: “Once we take this approach, we have a responsibility to train our graduate students to communicate mathematics better. We should have taken this more seriously all along.”
Last month, Cornell University professor Steven Strogatz also noted that mathematicians with “rizz” (slang for personal charm) are now more valued because they can explain AI-generated research results and use them to pose new mathematical questions.
IT Home noted that AI companies’ rapid push into mathematics has left many mathematics researchers uneasy and confused. As OpenAI rolls out hundreds of proposed solutions to some of the world’s most complex mathematical problems in this field, the entire mathematics community is considering how to maintain its value in the AI era.
Some professors have already made clear that they will no longer use AI. Most, however, are still trying to find ways to incorporate the technology into their research.
Students across the United States are also working to adapt to this change and are asking professors to publish clear guidelines on AI use, specifying whether students may use such tools and how they should use them.
One student wrote in a recent survey conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT): “Academia as a whole currently lacks high-level leadership and guidance.”