Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics sets community norms for AI in maths (4,000+ signatories)
The Leiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics, dated 2 Jun 2026 (Zenodo DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20302944), came out of a September 2025 Lorentz Center meeting in Leiden. It asks for transparent disclosure of AI use, proper attribution, peer-review standards, author rights over training data, industry-independent university AI labs, regulation of the AI industry and public computing infrastructure. By late September 2026 it had 4,000+ signatories, including Scholze, Tao and Buzzard.
Key facts
- Working group convened by Jim Portegies after a Sept 2025 Lorentz Center conference (~60 participants, 10 countries)
- Site states endorsement by the International Mathematical Union (IMU)
- Signatories: '4,000+' per Po-Shen Loh (19 Sep 2026); 4,221 on the site snapshot read 2026-09-29
- Notable signatories listed: Peter Scholze, Terence Tao, Robbert Dijkgraaf, Kevin Buzzard, Steven Strogatz
- Quote: 'Mathematical proofs are regarded as conferring the highest degree of certainty to their conclusions, as well as imparting understanding of why their conclusions are true.'
- Distinct from the Fields Medallists' 'A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics' statement at mathandai.org (7,000+ signatories by 19 Sep 2026)
What happened
A year-long process that began at the Lorentz Center in Leiden produced a declaration of principles for AI in mathematical research. It was published in June 2026, before the summer's wave of AI-generated results. Signatures kept growing through the Navier–Stokes controversy in September.
Why it matters
It is the broadest grassroots statement of mathematicians' norms on AI: disclosure, attribution, integrity of proof, and independence from industry. Together with the later Fields Medallists' statement, it forms the community's baseline position.
Changelog
- 2026-09-29: created (lead from data/leads.md). IMU endorsement and the 4,221 count come from the declaration site as read by a web fetch; confidence medium until re-checked
Related posts (1)
- Why do we need human mathematicians anymore? Po-Shen Loh (guest post on Terence Tao's blog) · blog · 2026-09-19
Guest essay proposing the axiom 'We (humans) should help humanity flourish'; it tallies the mathematicians' collective statements (Leiden Declaration 4,000+, Math and AI 7,000+, anti-Mathathon letter 2,000+).
Related events
- Fields Medallists' open letter 'A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics' criticises labs' race for famous problems ★★★
- Terence Tao's ICM 2026 public lecture 'Mathematics in the age of AI' calls a crisis in the foundations of mathematical values ★★★
- ICIAM issues a Statement on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence; LMS had commented on the Navier–Stokes episode ★★
Sources (2)
- officialLeiden Declaration on Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics
- discussionPo-Shen Loh (guest post on Tao's blog): Why do we need human mathematicians anymore? (cites signatory counts)
id: 2026-06-02-leiden-declaration-ai-mathematics · updated 2026-09-29 · open in the interactive timeline