I can’t stop thinking about an article I read in the Boston Globe last month.¹ It was entitled, “What’s the point of MIT? OpenAI’s math proofs have thrown students and researchers into chaos.” 

The article talked about how graduate students in MIT’s math department reacted to the news that OpenAI had published proof of almost 400 unsolved problems, including one that had been posed in 2000 that came with a million-dollar prize.

Some wondered if they had been working on one of the problems for which AI had just offered a proof. Many wondered about their future job prospects. Others wondered if it was still worth going into academia.

The saddest part of the article was an anecdote saying that current undergraduates are choosing to get help from ChatGPT instead of working together in groups.

As some of you know, I majored in math at MIT as an undergraduate. Becoming an Episcopal priest may be one of the more unusual career paths.  And yet my ministry with you is deeply informed by my studies at MIT.

The most important thing I learned there was how to solve problems I didn’t know how to solve by doing so in community. MIT classes typically involved weekly problem sets. Sometimes there were only a handful of problems to solve, but it might take a group of students six to ten hours or more to do them. Inevitably, one person had an idea that would help us get started, and we would wind up having to explain it to each other. This would inspire a new idea. We wound up learning by teaching each other, learning how to collaborate, and networking to draw in other students who might be able to help with missing pieces.

Today, I doubt I’d be able to do any of the problem sets I solved when I was 19. And yet for me, the answer wasn’t ever the point. The point was learning how to learn, think, teach, and most importantly, to create communities that could do hard things together.

A couple that I used to do problem sets with later invited me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding. Decades later, they helped my family make a difficult decision that positively transformed our lives. None of this would have happened if I had turned to AI instead of friends for help.

At Church of Our Saviour, we frequently have to figure out difficult problems. You all were educated in different fields, but you all know how to think and to bring your gifts to the table. Whether you studied microbiology, computer science, graphic design, business, or something else, your education transcends your own field and can be used in service of God’s work in the world.

The people who disseminated AI’s proofs (which have yet to checked) remind me of an older sibling who sees a younger family member reading Sherlock Holmes for the first time, and blurts out how the story ends. We hate people who spoil endings without our consent. But such an older sibling fundamentally didn’t understand the assignment. It was never to simply get the answer or read the final page. It was to experience the unfolding of a process of learning and be transformed in the process.

In Christ’s peace,
Malia

1 Towfighi, Michaela. “What’s the Point of MIT? OpenAI’s Math Proofs Have Thrown Students and Researchers into Chaos.” The Boston Globe, 15 Oct. 2026, https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/15/metro/mit-ai-math-students-openai/