AI Isn't a Normal Technology — It's 'Fully General' — SkimNews
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- Terrence Tao declared that AI solving major math problems is 'detrimental to the science of mathematics,' arguing AI companies' benchmark-chasing goals are 'severely misaligned' with the mathematical community's goals — a notable reversal for a previous 'huge supporter' of AI in math.
- The author argues AI is 'not a normal technology' because it is 'fully general,' and presents a three-premise proof by induction showing that any new jobs AI creates can themselves be performed by AI — eliminating the escape route previous automation offered.
- The author contends the only economic niche AI cannot fill is authentic human-made goods, comparing the market to 'hand-made wood carvings or hand-stitched hats from an authentic Balinese shop keeper in Ubud' — calling it 'basically a rounding error on the global economy.'
- The article claims the null hypothesis on AI capability has shifted: rather than AI needing to prove it can do task X, the burden now falls on those claiming it cannot, with 'the world's capital funneling into robotics and major advances happening constantly.'
- The author links historical factory automation to political consequences, arguing it 'led to the hollowing out of towns and cities' and was 'a significant driver for the economic discontent that led to Trump,' noting new jobs were not 1:1 transferable in capability or quantity.
- The article uses AI writing as evidence of its thesis: writing that mimicked prestigious award winners became 'synonymous with cheap vapid thinking' once ubiquitous, with people now using visible AI tells — 'poor punctuation and bad capitalization' — to mark human authenticity.
Why it matters: If the author's thesis holds, every worker loses the historical escape hatch where automation killed old jobs but spawned new human-only categories — because AI can theoretically perform those new roles too. The mathematics community, per Tao, is the first professional field to publicly confront this misalignment.
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