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A comment on Simons Foundation Launches $15M Effort to Help Mathematicians Navigate AI Era.

Re:Simons Foundation Launches $15M Effort to Help Mathematic... by yuchtman on Thursday October 15, 2026 @01:20PM (#50106978)
This is the first time I hear of a group receiving founding to navigate AI era. Why this one and not all the others that have to adapt to the AI era?

(Yes I know it's not the group directly receiving the founding)

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Re:Simons Foundation Launches $15M Effort to Help Mathematic... by JumpCrisscross on Thursday October 15, 2026 @01:21PM (#50106987)
> Why this one and not all the others that have to adapt to the AI era?

Mathematicians are not dummies?

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Re:Simons Foundation Launches $15M Effort to Help Mathematic... by yuchtman on Thursday October 15, 2026 @02:53PM (#50108471)
Suggesting all the other are dummies? And even if that is what you are suggesting, wouldn't that make them the group that needs support the least?
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Re:Simons Foundation Launches $15M Effort to Help Mathematic... by JumpCrisscross on Thursday October 15, 2026 @03:50PM (#50109299)
> Suggesting all the other are dummies?

In a sense, yes. There is no Simons Foundation for laid-off programmers. Taxi drivers and truckers, meanwhile, are really just trying to block change.

> wouldn't that make them the group that needs support the least?

I don't know. From a practical perspective, I am more confident the world will need mathematicians in 50 years than that it will need coders.

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Re:Simons Foundation Launches $15M Effort to Help Mathematic... by cloudbonsai on Thursday October 15, 2026 @05:18PM (#50110414)
It’s simple: Because Jim Simons (who founded RenTech and Simons Foundation) was a prominent mathematician himself.

He was also a major backer of autism research, because his family member had it. People spend money to where their passion is.

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Re:Simons Foundation Launches $15M Effort to Help Mathematic... by bemtevi on Thursday October 15, 2026 @07:56PM (#50111980)
Because it's not for the benefits of those receiving the funding. It's money to pay people willing to improve how AI does math so AI companies can be even more effective and rendering human endeavors unprofitable. Math is a hot target right now and they're going after it.

It's completely selfish and won't help anyone except those at the top.

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