ICM Public Lecture: Terence Tao

Mathematics in the Age of AI

Speaker: Terence Tao
Date: July 24, 2026, 7:15-8:15 pm

ABSTRACT

Current AI tools, when combined with formal verification and modern collaboration platforms, are enabling new ways to do mathematics at scale, with increasingly broad collaborations between professional mathematicians, other scientists, members of the public, and AI tools. Yet these tools continue to have only a modest impact on more traditional mathematical objectives, such as making progress on individual highly difficult problems. In this lecture we survey the recent achievements of these new paradigms, as well as their continuing limitations.

SPEAKER BIO

Terence Tao was born in Adelaide, Australia in 1975. He has been a professor of mathematics at UCLA since 1999, having completed his PhD under Elias Stein at Princeton in 1996. Tao's areas of research include harmonic analysis, PDE, combinatorics, and number theory. He has received a number of awards, including the Salem Prize in 2000, the Fields Medal in 2006, the MacArthur Fellowship in 2007, the Crafoord prize in 2012, and the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2015. Terence Tao also holds the James and Carol Collins chair in mathematics at UCLA, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Australian Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 2020-2024, he served on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

ABOUT ICM

The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is among the largest and most prestigious mathematical conferences worldwide. Held every four years, it is a showcase of contemporary mathematics and an opportunity for outstanding mathematicians from the global community to present the best work, covering all mathematical subfields and setting future directions for the field as a whole. The last U.S.-based ICM was held in 1986 in Berkeley, CA and after 40 years, the congress will return to Philadelphia, PA July 23-30, 2026.
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS

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BUILDING ENTRY PROTOCOL

• Enter the Pennsylvania Convention Center via Broad St Atrium.
• Check-in at a kiosk and print a badge. All attendees must have a badge to enter the Terrace Ballroom.
• Limited seating is available for this in-person event on a first-come, first-served basis.

INCLUDED WITH TICKET

• Exhibit Hall Access 4:00-6:00 pm
• Mathemalchemy
  

SCHEDULE

Doors open: 6:45 pm (No entrance before 6:45 pm)

Lecture: 7:15 – 8:15 pm (Admittance closes at 7:35 pm)

All attendees must register in advance to attend this event. By registering, participants agree to follow the .

COMPLETE PUBLIC LECTURES SERIES

• Public Lecture with Terence Tao | Register Here
  Friday, July 24, 2026 7:15-8:15 pm
• Public Lecture with Talithia Williams | Register Here
  Saturday, July 25, 2026 5:30-6:30 pm
• Public Lecture with Geordie Williamson | Register Here
  Sunday, July 26, 2026 3:30-4:30 pm
• Public Lecture with Manjul Bhargava | Register Here
  Monday, July 27, 2026 3:30-4:30 pm
• Public Lecture with Ingrid Daubechies | Register Here
  Tuesday, July 28, 2026 3:30-4:30 pm

OTHER ICM OUTREACH INITIATIVES

• Math Festival Day 1 | Register Here
  Friday, July 24, 2026 2:00 - 6:00 pm
• Film Screening + Q&A of Journeys of Black Mathematicians Part 1: Forging Resilience| Register Here
  Friday, July 24, 2026 2:00 - 3:45 pm
• Film Screening + Q&A of Journeys of Black Mathematicians Part 2: Creating Pathways| Register Here
  Saturday, July 25, 2026 11:00 am - 12:45 pm
• The Proof in the Code: A Conversation with Author Kevin Hartnett & Publisher Thomas Lin | Register Here
  Saturday, July 25, 2026 1:15 - 2:15 pm
• Math Festival Day 2 | Register Here
  Saturday, July 25, 2026 2:00 - 6:00 pm
• Math, Music and the Mind: Analysis of the Performed Trio Sonatas of J. S. Bach and Organ Performance at Cathedral Basilica | Register Here
  Saturday, July 25, 2026 5:00 - 6:30 pm
• From Classroom to Canvas: Creating the ICM Mural with Oluwafemi | Register Here
  Sunday, July 26, 2026 4:00 - 5:00 pm
• Felix Klein – Insights from the Outside| Register Here
  Sunday, July 26, 2026 5:00 - 6:30 pm
• Sandbox Films Screening of PHENOMENA| Register Here
  Sunday, July 26, 2026 7:30 - 10:00 pm
• The American Mathematical Society Presents: The Music of Mathematics | Register Here
  Tuesday, July 28, 2026 7:00 - 8:30 pm

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