AI being great at math makes human mathematicians more valuable, not less

The author argues that even if AI can solve extremely hard math problems, human mathematicians remain valuable because proofs must be understood and verified by humans, and expertise becomes scarcer and more valuable when AI makes it hard to distinguish correct from merely expert-looking content. Drawing on a field experiment with Süddeutsche Zeitung readers, the piece shows that exposure to AI-generated images lowered trust in news overall but increased demand for a trusted source, and applies the same logic to mathematics.