Strogatz's closing thought, after a conversation about AI systems producing mathematical results this year. He says what he would lose is the curiosity and learning that he counts as part of the point of a life, but he doesn't rule out that these systems stay tools that people direct and can switch off.
is radio. That's actually the
only thing we're ever doing. That's the only question.
I kind of wonder. You know, I feel like that's what we're talking about here: what are we doing? What do we want out of our life? We want to love our kids. We want to be, you know, have a meaningful time. We get to be a little blip of atoms, you know, organized into consciousness for maybe 80 years or 100 years if we're lucky. And then we're dust. So what are we going to do with ourselves? And for me, part of the answer is I love being curious. I love learning. And I'm not going to get to do it in the same way if this future comes while I'm still alive. But look, I don't want to dismiss the possibility that these will always be tools. If we can make it so that we're in charge, we can tell them what to do. We can unplug them as needed. They're like brain prostheses. So this year, 2026, will be remembered either as a miracle year, an annus mirabilis, or a horrible year, annus horribilis, for the history of mathematics. And I don't know yet which one it's going to be.
All right. I'll let you end on that.
Okay.
God. This episode was reported and produced by me and also my producer, Maria Paz Gutierrez. Big shout out to her for putting me onto this whole thing, talking to so many different mathematicians, knowing what was going on. It just wouldn't have happened without her. It was also edited by Pat…
