Once upon a time people thought software development and Math would be among the last refuges as AI took work, and did it better and cheaper. Instead, there are still people stacking supermarket shelves (for now), and it’s white collar work that is being eliminated.
Cédric Villani is a professor of Math at the École normale supérieure de Rennes and he raises a lot of thought provoking points in this interview.
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He says AI’s rapid improvement in Math has taken him by surprise, and he did not anticipate it 12 months ago.
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Universities haven’t the budget to compete with AI companies, hence their research students are now cut off from leading Math research.
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The purpose of PhD programs is to develop skills, but if AI can do it all quicker and better, what’s the point in Math PhD programs?
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Among undergraduates, most are using AI, and their basic basic reasoning skills are atrophying as a result.
Youtube Interview between Prof. Cédric Villani & Takahiro Yasuno 安野貴博の自由研究
Every kind of knowledge work is headed for that crossroads. It sucks when it starts to feel like the ‘human in the loop’ is the bottleneck, especially when you’re the human.
But cutting education programs feels shortsighted and reactionary. We still need people that understand things.