Controversy over ‘Mathathon’ at Caltech
A student-led 'Mathathon' event at Caltech has sparked controversy among mathematicians who fear AI-driven research will lead to low-quality 'slop' mathematics. Despite an open letter signed by hundreds of academics calling for cancellation, the event is proceeding with support from Anthropic.
Why it matters
It highlights the growing tension between the academic community and AI companies regarding the integrity of scientific research and the role of automation in human intellectual pursuits.
A new event at the California Institute of Technology, called ‘Mathathon’, pulled together by a group of undergraduate students to “promote the responsible use of AI in mathematics” quickly ran into controversy last week.
Scheduled for October 30 to November 1 this year, its first round will have 100 teams of mathematicians work on open problems in mathematics for 40 hours, with each team receiving around $20,000 worth of tokens to use on frontier AI models. The teams that have made the most progress will enter a second round that will be six months long. According to the organisers, the event aims in part to increase the exposure of mathematicians outside AI companies to powerful models.
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