Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw lecture by Professor Kevin Buzzard: Will computers replace mathematicians?
For decades now, computers have been much better than humans at calculating. But mathematical research is not all about calculating -- humans make conjectures and prove theorems. Until recently, mathematicians looked to be safe from the rise of the machine. But now computers are becoming capable of understanding the mathematics which modern researchers are doing. Will computers replace mathematicians? Or, perhaps more likely, will they start to help mathematicians in new ways? Not just number crunching for them, but also suggesting ideas and insights about how to push mathematical research further?
Professor Kevin Buzzard will give an overview of this area as it stands in 2022, touching on such things as the rise of computer proof assistants and machine learning in mathematics. The free talk, which will be suitable for a general audience, will take place on 15 November, from 6-8.30pm. The lecture will be delivered at the heart of the main University campus, in University Place (see booking link for full details). .
Professor Kevin Buzzard is a Professor of Pure Mathematics at Imperial College London specializing in number theory. His distinctions include a Whitehead Prize in 2002 and the Senior Berwick Prize in 2008 by the London Mathematical Society. He was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2022.