What Is Math For in the Age of AI? - Live from ICM 2026 | PODCAST: The Joy of Why
In this special live recording from the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia, July 2026, the central question discussed was what do mathematicians really value about doing mathematics in the first place?“The Joy of Why” is a Quanta Magazine podcast about curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge. The mathematician and author Steven Strogatz and the cosmologist and author Janna Levin take turns interviewing leading researchers about the great scientific and mathematical questions of our time. For more episodes visit Quanta Magazine: https://www.quantamagazine.org/tag/the-joy-of-why/
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00:00 – Welcome, Introductions & the AlphaProof/IMO Milestone
04:25 – The Erdős Problems & AI's First Real Proof
09:43 – Is Proof the Point? Math as Storytelling
15:44 – Mathematical Intuition and "Moral Truth"
20:19 – AI Homework and the "Double-Peak" Test Scores
26:22 – Will Math Still Be Fun? Debating the Singularity
29:47 – The Forklift Analogy: Why Struggle Matters
34:44 – Audience Q&A: Access to AI and Open-Source Tools
39:37 – Q&A: Grad School, Tenure, and Whether to Use AI
44:52 – Q&A: Low-Hanging Fruit and the Future of Discovery
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Mathematicians are witnessing a profound shift in their field. AI systems are now producing proofs, spotting connections between distant fields, and, in a few cases, solving problems that had stumped mathematicians for decades. The pace of progress over the past several months has raised challenging questions: What can AI systems actually do? And what happens to the more human, creative aspects of the field once machines can match – or exceed – people at problem-solving?
In this special live episode of The Joy of Why, recorded at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia on July 26, 2026, hosts Janna Levin and Steven Strogatz are joined by three mathematicians responding to the rise of AI in math: Akshay Venkatesh at the Institute for Advanced Study; Ravi Vakil at Stanford University and president of the American Mathematical Society; and Alex Kontorovich at Rutgers University. Together they discuss what recent AI-generated proofs really demonstrate, what will be gained and lost as mathematics becomes more machine-assisted at the frontier, and what this means for the next generation of mathematicians. The conversation turns to a deeper question: What do mathematicians value about doing mathematics in the first place? The answer involves grappling with what proof and understanding really mean, and with the surprising importance of storytelling.
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The Joy of Why is a podcast from Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. Funding decisions by the Simons Foundation have no influence on the selection of topics, guests, or other editorial decisions in this podcast or in Quanta Magazine. The Joy of Why is produced by PRX Productions. The production team is Caitlin Faulds, Jade Abdul-Malik, Genevieve Sponsler, and Merritt Jacob. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Edwin Ochoa is our project manager. From Quanta Magazine, Simon Frantz and Samir Patel provided editorial guidance with support from Samuel Velasco, Simone Barr, and Michael Kanyongolo. Samir Patel is Quanta’s editor-in-chief.
The episode art is by Chanelle Nibbelink and our logo is by Jaki King and Kristina Armitage. Special thanks to Garth Avery at the Cornell Broadcast Studio.
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Quanta Magazine is an editorially independent publication supported by the Simons Foundation. We focus on developments in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science and the basic life sciences.
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