Axios: Human genius after AI’s new dawn

Posted on November 5, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
Human genius after AI’s new dawn
 
Illustration of a collection of zeroes and ones in the style of an antique scientific illustration.
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
 
Bradley writes:

OpenAI’s massive data dump of more than 300 solved math problems triggered a wave of despair about the end of human supremacy.

But one mathematician has found reasons to push back against the doom loop.

Why it matters: As AI capabilities continue to advance across disciplines, beating humans at one task after another, every new feat requires important contemplation. What problems remain to be solved? Where can humans still have an impact? What does it all mean?

For Vanderbilt University’s Dan Margalit, the answer within mathematics is that the machines aren’t replacing human intellect. They are deeply reliant on it.

He sees AI as a tireless finisher of human-led ideas and imagines a future where mathematicians can thrive.

⚡ Catch up quick: The academic world has been reeling since OpenAI released hundreds of AI-generated math papers, offering solutions to major open challenges just a few weeks after also claiming to solve the legendary Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize Problem.

The intrigue escalated last week when OpenAI announced its models had disproved the exponential time hypothesis, upending a foundational assumption in computer science.

Rival AI giant Anthropic revealed that its own models independently made the same discovery on the same day, pouring 14 million tokens into the effort, according to The Information.

The new findings have triggered more shock and awe in academia. Yet in all that frenzy, here are five ways Margalit, who chairs Vanderbilt’s math department, says mathematicians are finding hope in the age of AI.

1. 🏁 AI is a finisher, not an originator.

The hope: AI didn’t solve these problems in a vacuum. It succeeded where humans had brought ideas close enough to a breakthrough.

The context: “The problems solved were the ones humans were closest to solving,” says Margalit. The AI failed on thousands of other problems where human literature hadn’t already pointed the way.

2. ⚠️ The machines still make mistakes.

The hope: Mathematicians and others reviewing the AI solutions have found flaws.

The context: As mathematicians read the proofs, a number of the released papers are facing retraction because AI made the same logic errors as humans, Margalit said.

3. 🦾 It’s brute force, not brilliant intuition.

The hope: AI approaches math the way machines approach chess.

The context: OpenAI deployed tens of thousands of agents to tirelessly smash together known theorems in millions of configurations. “That’s amazing, but like chess, it’s about trying all possibilities to get from where we are to where we want to go,” Margalit notes. The AI isn’t asking interesting questions.

4. 🧮 AI acts as an ultimate calculator.

The hope: Humans used to write entire books of integrals until software came along and automated the process. AI can also be a tool for acceleration.

The context: This didn’t kill math; it freed humans to explore harder concepts. “When an integral appears in a sophisticated problem, I no longer devote my research to it,” Margalit says.

5. 💡 Math is about understanding, not just correct answers.

The hope: The ancient Greek word “mathematika” translates to “the study of learning,” he says. Margalit credited mathematician Bill Thurston, the author of a landmark 1994 essay that has taken on new life, with this observation: If a computer spits out a list of 10,000 prime numbers, it can’t tell us about why they exist or the patterns they form.

The context: The universe already knows the answers. Math is the process of the human mind grasping them. “If a computer tells me an answer, that doesn’t give me insight or satisfaction,” Margalit says. “Mathematics is the human endeavor of understanding.”Share this story.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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