Mathematics in the Age of AI

An essay, based on a public lecture delivered at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians, on how the mathematical community might respond to the arrival of artificial intelligence tools that are capable of performing research-level mathematical tasks. Rather than debating the capabilities of such tools, we condition on the hypothesis that these capabilities will arrive, and examine instead a question that is orthogonal to it: what the goals and values of mathematical research actually are. The problem-solving component of mathematics is used as a case study.