New Delhi, Sept. 12 -- Twenty-five leading mathematicians signed an open letter arguing that AI labs threatened their intellectual work as they seek to one-up each other with solutions to famous math problems.

"We are witnessing a general threat to intellectual work, with misalignment between the outcome of the use of AI and its initial purpose," the signatories said in a letter available online.

They noted that in recent months, the success of AI in solving major mathematical problems has made headlines even outside mathematical circles.

"But solving problems is only a tool and proxy for achieving the primary goal of conceptual understanding and insight. Forgetting this in the world of AI may turn the tool against the primary goal. In...