Nvidia’s Jensen Huang sparks debate over basic math skills in the AI era

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently questioned whether basic math skills will remain crucial as artificial intelligence becomes more capable, sparking a debate about how AI could change the skills people need in education and the workforce.

During his appearance on a New York Times podcast, Huang responded to a Chinese study of over 26,000 students in which AI boosted homework grades by 18% and cut completion time by 30% yet monthly exams scores dropped 20% and long-term skill retention declined by 18-24%.

He was of the view that basic math such as manipulation tables and square roots can fade without harm removing routine mental tasks to allow for higher-level thinking.

Meanwhile, critics pushed back hard with warnings that skipping foundational basics erodes cognitive dependence and leaves people dependent on AI.

In this connection, Jensen said: “Try to get a kid to do long division right now, The multiplication table is starting to be forgotten. Doing square roots, my goodness. Basic math is being forgotten. Does it matter? I don’t think it does. I don’t think it does.”

The interview followed a wave of mixed response from users with one writing, “ That's probably true in the same way you don't need to know how to grow potatoes or how to make shoes. It will have consequences, though.”

Second said, “ How will children work through conflict resolution and critical thinking? Two important skills required to be a productive contributor to society, and relationships.”

Third added, “ The AI era is coming to an end soon as the bubble will burst so no, they'll have to learn skills and math as well. And anyway we learn our entire life. Be like Confucius, not like a CEO.”