Kit Yates

It's no longer OK for you to sit in the house of Lords because your dad did.
But if your mate put you there?
That's fine.
Neither of these really feel like democracy to me.

Enfield measles outbreak could be stabilising, health chief says Health bosses have been questioned by London politicians amid a measles outbreak in north London.

"There are signs an outbreak of measles in north London may have stabilised although there could still be more cases, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said."

Yes I think that’s fair to say.

That prospect forces a hard question: if a proof becomes something only a machine can comprehend, does mathematics remain a human endeavour, or does it become something else entirely?

I explore this in more detail in my latest substack here: open.substack.com/pu...

10/10

Pushed to its limit, we may face “objectively correct” proofs no human can understand.

We’ve accepted computer‑assisted proofs before: the four‑colour theorem used case‑checking in 1976; confidence grew with a simpler 1997 proof and a fully machine‑checked version in 2005.
9/10

Pair AI with these systems and you get something new: require outputs in a formally verified language; let the checker expose errors; let the AI try again.

This back‑and‑forth could scale proof search and uncover links between areas of mathematics humans might not connect.
8/10

To prevent acceptance without correctness, mathematicians are turning to formal verification.
Systems like Lean force proofs into a precise language that a computer checks line by line.

If a step fails, it won’t pass, removing the linguistic ambiguities humans introduce.
7/10

Consider Fermat’s Last Theorem. We can have 3²+4²=5², but there are no whole‑number solutions for cubes, fourth powers, or higher.
After Wiles’s celebrated 1993 lectures, peer review revealed a serious flaw; a year’s work fixed it. For a while, the world thought it was done.
6/10

Proof, in practice, has always been partly a social construct: arguments are accepted when other mathematicians analyse them and judge them correct.
That means a widely accepted proof isn’t an irrefutable guarantee of truth; even well‑known proofs may hide issues.
5/10

This raises a more acute issue: what does it mean to “prove” a result if we can’t follow the proof?

If we can’t trust an argument, we can’t develop new tools and techniques on that foundation.
4/10

Mathematicians now fear being flooded with convincing‑looking proofs that hide subtle flaws. Arguments may be accepted because they look rigorous.

Given a goal, such systems will optimise ruthlessly to achieve it—sometimes cutting corners humans might miss.
3/10

Some worried the model gave highly convincing, but potentially incorrect, answers. In the past, confidence and the appearance of a good argument were useful signals because only the best could make them.

That has changed: style no longer indicates sound reasoning.

2/10

In 2025, leading mathematicians met in secret to test a new AI model. Its proofs sounded like those of a real mathematician presenting a complex argument.

But were we giving it more credit than it deserved? Are we at risk of accepting proofs we can’t understand?
1/10

Why time seems to go by more quickly as we get older As the years advance, time flies faster. Here’s why.

Going to be on BBC South radio at 13:10 discussing why time seems to go by more quickly as we age.

Here's an article I wrote on the subject in case you're interested.

Conservative peer quits after Lords probe into PPE deals It comes after a Lords standards probe into his contacts with ministers and advisers during the pandemic.

The VIP lane was rotten to the core.
A national scandal.

Axel Springer poised to buy Telegraph in £500mn deal German media group has gatecrashed a proposed acquisition by the owner of the Daily Mail

I really don't miss having to cover the Telegraph takeover story, the world's most tedious media saga.

But this is INTRIGUING: @danielthomasldn.bsky.social says the Daily Mail deal to buy the Telegraph might collapse and Axel Springer might end up in control.
www.ft.com/content/e5cb...

😂

"TRUST YOUR NERDS"

Covid inquiry chair defends cost and length of process on final day Baroness Heather Hallett said completing the hearings in under four years was an achievement but critics have questioned its cost.

"If implemented, my recommendations should reduce the number of deaths, reduce the suffering and reduce the social and economic cost," she [Baroness Heather Hallett] said.

I've got a feeling that that is a mighty big "If".

'I'm still haunted that he died alone': The last voices of the Covid inquiry Bereaved families have the final say as the Covid inquiry completes three years of public hearings.

“Michael deteriorated in hospital. His cough became so severe he had to send a WhatsApp message to tell her he was being put on a ventilator
Two weeks later, the family was told he would never recover and that doctors were going to reduce his life support”

The Maths of Life and Death *SELECTED AS ONE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES SCIENCE BOOKS OF THE YEAR* "This is an exquisitely interesting book. It's a deeply serious one too and, for those like me who have little maths, it's delightfully readable" - IAN MCEWAN "An exciting new voice in the world of science communication" - MARCUS DU SAUTOY "An extremely th

World of Books is selling The Maths of Life and Death (Hardback!) for just £6.60.
That's a 67% discount.
Get it while it's hot:

Covid inquiry chair defends cost and length of process on final day Baroness Heather Hallett said completing the hearings in under four years was an achievement but critics have questioned its cost.

"If implemented, my recommendations should reduce the number of deaths, reduce the suffering and reduce the social and economic cost," she [Baroness Heather Hallett] said.

I've got a feeling that that is a mighty big "If".

Those wonderful moments when the headline has updated, but the picture hasn't.

I had a great time visiting the @universityofexeter.bsky.social of Living Systems Institute (LSI-Exeter) yesterday to give the Distinguished Speaker's lecture.

Interested audience, great questions and a lovely place.

Thanks for having me.

"The number of measles cases in London continues to rise with growing concerns that it is further spreading into other regions."
www.itv.com/news/202...

How to Expect the Unexpected has a random 39% off on amazon at the moment.
Just £6.72 for 120K words.
Seems like value for money when you think how much you'd pay to send someone a greetings card!
www.amazon.co.uk/How...

fell for it again award

My dad used to tell me this story. I’ve told it to my kids. So good.

I had a great time (literally) climbing the career ladder yesterday with Max Klymenko.
The University of Bath