Controversy over ‘Mathathon’ at Caltech
A coalition of current and former Caltech mathematicians has published an open letter asking for the Mathathon to be called off over concerns about ‘slop’ research
A new event called 'Mathathon' at the California Institute of Technology aimed to promote responsible use of AI in mathematics, but quickly became controversial. Scheduled for October 30 to November 1, the first round involved 100 teams of mathematicians working on open problems for 40 hours, with each team receiving around $20,000 worth of tokens for AI model usage.
Organizers claimed the event would increase mathematicians' exposure to powerful AI models. However, a coalition of over 700 Caltech mathematicians, including Fields Medal winners, published an open letter on September 10, asking for the Mathathon to be canceled. The letter argued that the accelerated format would encourage sloppier mathematics that others would have to correct and verify.
AI companies sponsoring the event were accused of turning open mathematics problems into publicity contests, draining the field of its human and social resources. While the organizers revised some rules, like requiring preprint publications, they did not cancel the event. OpenAI withdrew as a sponsor, with Anthropic taking over and providing $600,000 in credits.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu - Sci-Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
