OpenAI has announced its new model, Astra, which has solved ten major outstanding problems in math and theoretical computer science. This marks a significant milestone in the development of artificial intelligence, as it surpasses human capabilities in certain areas of mathematics. According to University of Toronto mathematician Daniel Litt, AI is no longer limited to solving problems by combining existing insights, but can also make novel leaps of insight. However, some mathematicians have expressed despair and even suicidal thoughts over the prospect of being replaced by machines, feeling that their discipline will lose its human spirit and creative value.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event.
I had a great-uncle who was a “human calculator”.
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who → have → uncle
It’s an odd, rare ability that allows people to multiply large numbers quickly in their heads.
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people → ’ → heads
I remember using a hand calculator and seeing if my uncle could get it right without a tool faster than I could; more often than not, he could.
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he → remember → tool
Human calculators used to be very valuable as employees, back when calculation was done by hand.
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calculation → use → hand
Today they’re just a curiosity.
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they → ’re → ?
Technology came along and superseded that particular human ability, as it has so many others.
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it → come → others
The story of John Henry being superseded by the steam drill, or Paul Bunyan by the chainsaw, is a metaphor for the march of progress.
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Henry → supersede → progress
In some cases, like Garry Kasparov or Lee Sedol losing to computers at chess and Go, the moment really happened.
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moment → lose → chess
This week marked another important such moment in the history of man versus machine.
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week → mark → machine
OpenAI announced that its new model, Astra, managed to solve ten major outstanding problems in math and theoretical computer science.
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model → announce → math
Here’s a simple explanation of the problems.
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explanation → ’ → problems
The general consensus seems to be that these are extremely important, stunning breakthroughs.
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these → seem → ?
This does not mean that computers are now capable of doing every kind of math better than humans can.
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humans → mean → math
Some people have argued that AI is good at results where the solution can be found by reading the entire literature and combining existing insights — exactly the kind of thing you might expect a computer to be superhuman at — but still not as good as humans at making truly novel leaps of insight.
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computer → argue → insight
This may represent a real, general limitation of LLMs’ capabilities — as Tom Zahavy of Google DeepMind put it, it may still be the case that “LLMs can’t jump.”
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LLMs → represent → it
But the trend line is becoming clearer.
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line → become → ?
The University of Toronto’s Daniel Litt, one of the most prominent skeptics of AI’s potential for frontier math research, recently conceded a major bet about what AI could do:
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AI → concede → what
Litt appears to no longer believe that there is any important type of math that AI won’t soon be able to do, writing: “The models don’t yet seem able to do certain kinds of high quality research, but I also expect this is a matter of (not too much) time.”
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this → appear → time
Some mathematicians have reacted to this development with despair.
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mathematicians → react → despair
Kirwin Hampshire’s post is probably the most evocative and the most well-read:
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post → read → ?
He writes:
I am suffering a profound spiritual crisis due to these developments.
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I → write → developments
I have been screaming internally for days.
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I → scream → days
It feels as though I am living inside of a nightmare…
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I → feel → nightmare
For me, the affective quality of learning mathematics is empathetically tethered to an act of discovery and creation…
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quality → learn → discovery
If The Library of Babel existed, would authors continue to write books?…
Perhaps I shouldn’t tell you this, but my aim is to be open: These developments have triggered some deranged thoughts in me.
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developments → exist → me
I have wondered if it is the express goal of these companies to make me kill myself…
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me → wonder → myself
The story of human discovery and the triumph of the human spirit will soon be excised from this discipline…
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story → excise → discipline
[T]he process of prompting novel proofs will be as auraless as ordering doordash.
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process → prompt → doordash
Watch as magic and mystery evaporate.
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magic → watch → ?
Watch as the sun sets on our heroic age…
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sun → watch → age
There is nothing I can do.
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I → be → ?
There may be nothing you can do.
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you → do → ?
I have no prescriptions, policy recommendations, or coherent call to action.
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I → have → action
I just want to be honest and open about my emotional and spiritual response.
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I → want → response
I want to feel seen….I
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I → want → ?
need the architects of our new mathematical paradigm to look me in the eye and acknowledge our shared humanity and soul before they deliver the coup de grâce.
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they → need → coup
Math PhD student Tasmin Chu, meanwhile, urges a more confrontational path, calling on mathematicians to avoid working with AI companies and to aggressively preserve the way that math research is currently done.
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research → urge → way
This seems extremely unlikely (and would fail if it were attempted), but it demonstrates the depth of emotion out there.
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it → seem → emotion
Even the mathematicians who don’t share Hampshire’s despair have expressed alarm at the sudden disruption of their profession.
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who → share → profession
The entire way that mathematical research works — training grad students, working on problems, collaborating with colleagues, building theories — is going to have to be overhauled.
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research → work → theories
…and 103 more, not listed.
