Mathematicians love a good puzzle. Even something as abstract as multiplying matrices (two-dimensional tables of numbers) can feel like a game when you try to find the most efficient way to do it.

With AlphaTensor, DeepMind Technologies has presented an AI system that is supposed to independently find novel, efficient and provably correct algorithms for complex mathematical tasks. AlphaTensor ...

This summer, battle lines were drawn over a simple math problem: 8 ÷ 2(2 + 2) = ? If you divide 8 by 2 first, you get 16, but if you multiply 2 by (2 + 2) first, you get 1. So, which answer is right?

The common-core math standards require that students learn the standard algorithm for multi-digit adding and subtracting—you know, the process in which you line the numbers up vertically to add or ...