Research Specialization

My long term research goal is to investigate patterns of reasoning and argumentation in mathematics, and to incorporate these findings into computational systems. I believe that this will help to close the gap between machine and human mathematics, both enhancing interaction between mathematicians and computers, and enabling machines to automatically generate interesting mathematics. My vision is that, one day, human mathematicians will regard machines as fellow mathematicians and worthy collaborators in their own right. If this were to happen, then the development of mathematics as a subject will accelerate enormously and extend in directions which we cannot currently predict, fundamentally impacting science and our understanding of the world. Furthermore, the lessons learnt and discoveries made en route towards achieving this goal will necessarily extend our own understanding of how humans do mathematics. One key application of this knowledge will be in mathematics education: if we can teach computers to do mathematics in a human-like way, then we will be in a far better position to teach humans.