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Terence Tao (mathematician) wrote on 2026-05-10 that “AI tools are like taking a…

2026-05-10 · 07:42 UTC ·@kshashi ·0 min read

Brief

Terence Tao and Judit Polgár argue that shortcuts—AI tools in math or skipping practice in chess—remove the experiential journey that builds intuition and skill, and both warn this trend especially endangers youth development. @kshashi posted their parallel warnings on 2026-05-10 with links to The Atlantic and an archive.

Why it matters

Terence Tao (mathematician) wrote on 2026-05-10 that “AI tools are like taking a helicopter to drop you off at the site. You miss all the benefits of the journey itself,” warning that AI shortcuts bypass the problem-solving journey that provides learning value.

Key details

  • Judit Polgár (chess grandmaster) said she gains intuition through experience and warned that youth risk losing intuition because they “don't spend enough time doing,” identifying lack of hands-on practice as a major danger.
  • @kshashi highlighted the parallel between these elite voices on 2026-05-10, linking to The Atlantic and an archive (links: [1] theatlantic.com/technology/2… [2] archive.is/mv2FB) to show agreement across math and chess.
Source evidence

Terence Tao - "AI tools are like taking a helicopter to drop you off at the site. You miss all the benefits of the journey itself. You just get right to the destination, which actually was only just a part of the value of solving these problems."

Judit Polgar - "I always felt that intuition is very important in chess, but I get my intuition through my experience. And many times I think that this is the biggest danger for youth, that they don't have the experience because they don't spend enough time doing."

Elites from two different fields voice the same opinion.

[1] theatlantic.com/technology/2…

[2] archive.is/mv2FB