Deng Yu, the 37-year-old mathematician recently awarded the 2026 Fields Medal, shared a lighthearted comment regarding the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence in his field. In a social media post published on Tuesday, Deng remarked that if AI technology reaches a point where it can solve all mathematical problems, he would retire from his current profession to focus on writing yuri novels.

Yuri is a Japanese genre of literature and manga that centers on romantic or intimate relationships between women. Deng’s comment has drawn attention due to his status as a top-tier academic and his public admission of being a fan of the genre. The post, which was subsequently shared across multiple Chinese social media platforms, highlights a growing conversation within the scientific community regarding the long-term impact of AI on research and intellectual labor. While the comment was made in a joking manner, it reflects a broader trend of experts speculating on the future of human-led discovery in an era of increasingly capable machine intelligence. There is no indication that Deng intends to leave mathematics, nor is there evidence that AI is currently capable of replacing the creative and analytical work performed by Fields Medal-level mathematicians.