Source: Nature
Tao's intervention signals that pure mathematics faces a genuine identity crisis. If machines can solve problems faster, the field's social contract—proof as the ultimate arbiter of truth and prestige—fractures. The framing of "Maths 2.0" suggests mathematicians are preparing to migrate toward collaborative verification, aesthetic judgment, and problem formulation rather than solution-finding. This would represent a vertical restructuring of what counts as mathematical contribution, not merely a tool adoption.