Navigating the AI Crisis: A Humble Guide for Students

Summary

Tarik Aougab’s arXiv paper presents recommendations, aimed mostly at graduate students, for deciding whether to use or avoid AI in mathematical research and education. It encourages students to maintain connections with established ways of learning mathematics rather than relying exclusively on AI. The guide also emphasizes communication and the exchange of ideas with other people. It advises students to think critically about the politics of labor and to organize with their cohort and others at their institution. Finally, it calls for attention to the effects of AI infrastructure on land and people. The paper frames these points as basic guidance for navigating AI’s role in mathematical study and research, rather than as advice about a particular model or tool.