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AI is breaking our proxies for expertise

Mathematicians are broadly not anti-AI. They’re more culturally open to using AI as a tool than, say, artists or writers. However, now that more and more…

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  • It used to be that you could put a meaty project on your GitHub — say, an emulator, or a toy OS — and people would know you were a skilled engineer. But now projects like that are worthless, because everyone just assumes they’re vibe-coded
  • Like mathematics, software engineers are going to have to rebuild our cultural sense of the kind of work we value
  • a lot of people who were successful in the old world are going to be very unhappy

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In summary, AI is disrupting the cultural proxies for expertise in mathematics and software engineering by solving complex puzzles without providing the human-centric conceptual understanding that traditionally defined mastery.

  • Mathematicians fear AI focuses on 'puzzle-solving' (finding answers) over 'idea-generating' (conceptual understanding), potentially stalling genuine intellectual progress.
  • AI's ability to solve high-prestige problems 'the hard way' removes the legible benchmarks used to reward and identify skilled human mathematicians.
  • Similar to chess, mathematics may evolve into separate 'human' and 'AI' spheres where human-derived proofs maintain their own prestige.
  • Software engineering faces a similar crisis where traditional proofs of skill (e.g., complex GitHub projects) are now seen as 'vibe-coded' and lose their value.

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