A planned maths competition at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in the United States has caused many mathematicians to worry. Caltech wants to hold an event called "Mathathon" where people will use artificial intelligence (AI) to solve difficult maths problems. More than 700 mathematicians signed a letter asking Caltech to stop the competition. The event is set to start on 30 October and will last 40 hours. Over 1,000 people have applied to join, and companies like OpenAI at first agreed to help by providing computers.

This happened because some mathematicians believe that using AI might hurt academic research. They are concerned that AI can produce quick answers that look correct but are not carefully checked or fully understood. They call this "slop mathematics", which means results that are produced quickly but may not be fully explained or trusted by humans. These mathematicians worry that racing for quick solutions could make people care less about traditional slow and careful maths work.

After the backlash, some rules of the Mathathon were changed to focus more on explaining answers. OpenAI, a big technology company, decided to stop supporting the event. However, Caltech said the competition will still go ahead. This event has started important discussions about how maths and AI should work together in the future.