MIT survey: most early-career mathematicians expect AI to make tenure-track jobs harder

Three MIT mathematicians surveyed 268 graduate students and postdocs from nearly 60 institutions in September and early October 2026.

Of respondents, 76.3% expect AI to make tenure-track jobs harder to get, according to the survey as reported on X by Rohan Paul. Some respondents say fear of being scooped by AI leads them to share less unfinished work.

Among respondents who use AI in research, 54.8% say they dislike doing so. Most responses came before OpenAI released more than 700 AI solutions to open problems.