After turning a string of spectacular mathematical results into a reputational crisis , OpenAI is consulting human mathematicians to help it figure out a less disastrous path forward.

On Monday, the company announced a new independent panel of mathematicians tasked with advising it and other AI companies on their interactions with mathematical research and the wider mathematics community, including how new results are presented and released. Its abrupt arrival caught many mathematicians by surprise. Researchers told The Verge the group is a good first step, but many said they were left with basic questions about what it will actually do, how …