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Old and new apps, via modern coding agents by Terry Tao
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Overview
Machine-assisted methods for teaching mathematics have been explored since 1999, with early applets coded in Java 1.0 for complex analysis and linear algebra courses. The transition away from Java 1.0 due to web standards rendered these applets obsolete.
Summary from terrytao.wordpress.com.
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terrytao.wordpress.com
Old and new apps, via modern coding agents by Terry Tao
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Hacker News · terrytao.wordpress.com
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Based on 5 sampled comments from this thread. Analyzed 2026-07-12.
- Praise: Terry Tao's excitement over coding agents feels like a major leap, as even top-tier mathematicians are now exploring AI to enhance their work.
- Praise: Using LLMs for visualizations has been a game changer for many educators, allowing them to create complex teaching aids they previously lacked time for.
- Praise: Commenters see LLMs as fantastic tools for iterating on projects, making it easier to produce visual outputs without worrying about perfect code.
- Concern: Skeptics argue that many AI projects, including Tao's, remain hobbyist endeavors rather than serious applications within academia.
- Concern: There's a strong sentiment that LLMs generate code that's often atrocious and unreliable, making them unsuitable for high-stakes programming tasks.
- Concern: Despite the excitement, some commenters emphasize the need for caution, noting that AI tools shouldn't be blindly trusted.