The Fields Medal, one of the most prestigious awards in mathematics, was awarded on Thursday July 23 to two Chinese, an American and a Canadian, a consecration for these young mathematicians which comes in the midst of the upheaval of their discipline under the effect of AI.
Presented every four years in a different city, this distinction is considered the equivalent of a “Mathematics Nobel” and is awarded by the International Mathematical Union. It consists of a gold medallion bearing the face of Archimedes and 15,000 Canadian dollars which reward the “exceptional discoveries” of researchers under 40 years old.
Among the winners this year: a woman, Hong Wang. At 35, this Chinese woman who teaches in France at the Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies (IHES) and in the United States, at New York University, becomes the third woman crowned since the creation of the prize in 1936, the discipline still remaining largely dominated by men.
Rise of China
Succeeding the Iranian mathematicians Maryam Mirzakhani (2014) and the Ukrainian Maryna Viazovska (2022), Hong Wang is honored for her work which notably made it possible to solve a mathematical enigma more than a century old last year.
The Fields Medal consists of a gold medallion bearing the face of Archimedes and an award of 15,000 Canadian dollars. © Carl de Souza, AFP
In 1917, the Japanese mathematician Soichi Kakeya asked “a very simple question: if you turn a pencil so that it makes a complete revolution, what is the smallest area that it sweeps?”, Hong Wang explained to AFP. A problem with diverse and complex ramifications which has exhausted many researchers.
His compatriot Yu Deng, who teaches at the University of Chicago, also received the Fields Medal this year, confirming China’s rise in recent decades in the field of mathematics. “It is truly an immense honor to see my name appear alongside all these great mathematicians whom I have always admired,” he confided during a press conference.
The United States, which holds the record for winners, is not to be outdone, with the American John Pardon, also aged 37, also being crowned. Canadian Jacob Tsimerman, 38, completes the quartet.
A discipline shaken up by AI
The presentation of this prestigious prize comes this year in a particular context for the discipline, increasingly shaken up by advances in artificial intelligence (AI). Some AI models have recently shown themselves capable of performing high-level mathematical demonstrations, astonishing experts, and could soon surpass human computing capabilities.
Canadian mathematician Jacob Tsimerman receiving the Fields Medal in Philadelphia, United States, July 23, 2026. © Erin Blewett, AFP
“I think that the world is changing and that the profession of mathematician (…) will not remain as it is today,” admitted Thursday Jacob Tsimerman, announcing that he had “already started to reorient (s)his career” towards the field of AI and was preparing to join the company of the creator of ChatGPT, OpenAI.
“We are clearly observing an evolution which suggests that AI will profoundly transform mathematical research,” said Yu Deng. “But I am probably one of those who are rather optimistic and who think that AI will help mathematicians rather than replace them,” he added.
In June, a group of mathematicians published a text called the “Leiden Declaration” on the subject, in which they listed “serious ethical concerns” as well as scientific concerns linked to the use of AI in mathematics. Although very promising, this technology can “generate plausible but unreliable (or even erroneous) reasoning”, they recalled, calling for the establishment of a framework and safeguards.
With AFP
