Events and news relevant to the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science

[Paul Jackson <Paul.Jackson@ed.ac.uk>]

Hi,

we’ve decided to make this seminar hybrid. Joining instructions are as follows:

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/33933116401920?p=T115XNbNfaj6IIxPAm

Meeting ID: 339 331 164 019 20

Passcode: fa6kg35z

From: aiai-members <aiai-members-bounces@inf.ed.ac.uk> on behalf of Informatics Institute News via aiai-members <aiai-members@inf.ed.ac.uk>
Date: Monday, 16 March 2026 at 08:11
To: inf-seminars@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk <inf-seminars@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk>, AIAI Members <aiai-members@inf.ed.ac.uk>, inf-aiai-seminars@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk <inf-aiai-seminars@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk>, lfcs-interest@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk <lfcs-interest@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk>, 'inf-ianc-talks@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk' <inf-ianc-talks@mlist.is.ed.ac.uk>, ilcc-members@inf.ed.ac.uk <ilcc-members@inf.ed.ac.uk>
Subject: [aiai-members] REMINDER - AIAI Seminar: TODAY Monday 16th March 14:00, Room Informatics G.03, Speaker Ursula Martin

*REMINDER*

 

Hello all,

 

There will be an AIAI Seminar on Monday 16^th March in Informatics Forum G.03 at 2pm by visiting speaker Ursula Martin.

 

Title: Will machines change pure mathematics?

 

Speaker: Ursula Martin

https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/people/ursula.martin

 

Abstract: Recent months have seen astonishing advances in the use of AI techniques in mathematical papers: “vibe coding” by non-experts to produce formal proofs in LEAN; expert human guidance of  LLMs produce credible, if derivative, research papers; specialist algorithms such as AlphaGeometry; and sophisticated use of machine learning to search for examples.

 

Their development (at huge cost in compute power and energy) has been accompanied by an unfamiliar and exuberant level of hype from well-funded start-ups claiming to “solve mathematics” and the like. And it raises questions beyond the technical concerning governance, funding and the nature of the mathematical profession.

 

To try and understand what’s going on and where future challenges might lie, we look historical examples of changes in mathematical practice - as an example we consider key developments in the early days of computational group theory.

 

Best wishes

Jodie

 

Jodie Cameron

Institute Administrator

Room 1.33

University of Edinburgh, Informatics Forum

10 Crichton St | Edinburgh | EH8 9AB

( Available on Microsoft Teams or email to arrange a phone call

Working hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri – 09:00 – 17:00

 

 

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.