The New York Times [free link]: “For thousands of years, mathematicians have adapted to the latest advances in logic and reasoning. Are they ready for artificial intelligence?…Mathematicians have responded to these disruptions with varying levels of concern. Michael Harris, at Columbia University, expresses qualms in his “Silicon Reckoner” Substack. He is troubled by the potentially conflicting goals and values of research mathematics and the tech and defense industries. In a recent newsletter, he noted that one speaker at a workshop, “A.I. to Assist Mathematical Reasoning,” organized by the National Academies of Sciences, was a representative from Booz Allen Hamilton, a government contractor for intelligence agencies and the military. Dr. Harris lamented the lack of discussion about the larger implications of A.I. on mathematical research, particularly “when contrasted with the very lively conversation going on” about the technology “pretty much everywhere except mathematics.” Geordie Williamson, of the University of Sydney and a DeepMind collaborator, spoke at the N.A.S. gathering and encouraged mathematicians and computer scientists to be more involved in such conversations. At the workshop in Los Angeles, he opened his talk with a line adapted from “You and the Atom Bomb,” a 1945 essay by George Orwell. “Given how likely we all are to be profoundly affected within the next five years,” Dr. Williamson said, “deep learning has not roused as much discussion as might have been expected.”..