[SydPhil] UOW Agora Speaker Series — Markus Pantsar (RWTH Aachen University) — Towards an epistemology of artificial mathematical reasoning (Mar 5)

[Elena Walsh]

Dear all,


The School of Liberal Arts at the University of Wollongong will welcome Dr.
Markus Pantsar (RWTH Aachen University) to the Agora Speaker Series this
Thursday, March 5. Details are here
<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/8REuCE8wmrt0rp4GYfNf0S7-ytT?domain=sola-events.github.io> (and below). All most
welcome.


*Markus Pantsar*

RWTH Aachen University

*‘Towards an epistemology of artificial mathematical reasoning’*

5 March 2026 · 3.30–5pm · 24-203

The University of Wollongong (Keiraville campus)


*Abstract*

In 2025, both Google DeepMind and OpenAI reported that their large language
model (LLM)-based AI systems had achieved gold medal level performance in
the International Mathematical Olympiad. In addition, together with
research mathematicians, DeepMind has made reported progress in solving
research-level mathematical problems with their AI system. These
developments suggest that in the near future important parts of
mathematical theorem proving may be outsourced to LLM-based AI systems,
what AI developers call large reasoning models (LRM). However, the LRMs
still commonly make errors in simple reasoning tasks, prompting questions
about their reliability as mathematical (and other) tools.


In this talk, I want to take first steps toward establishing an
epistemology of artificial mathematical reasoning, in order to set up a
systematic framework for studying mathematical reasoning in AI systems. I
divide the topic into two questions. First, in the “knowledge of” question
we ask how we can identify reasoning ability (if any) in AI systems.
Second, in the “knowledge through” question we ask how mathematical
knowledge generation takes place with the help of AI reasoning systems (if
any). Finally, I will consider the consequences to mathematical practice
and mathematical communities that such AI systems could have.


*Bio*

Markus Pantsar is a Guest Professor at the Chair of Theory of Science and
Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany. He holds the Title of Docent
in theoretical philosophy at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has
published extensively in the philosophy of mathematics, including the
book *Numerical
Cognition and the Epistemology of Arithmetic* (Cambridge University Press,
2024). In recent years, he has focused on the philosophy of artificial
intelligence, in particular the use of AI systems in mathematical contexts.


Best wishes,

The School of Liberal Arts