For years, New Mexico State University's Department of Mathematical Sciences has hosted its online competition, Math Problem of the Week, where the winner receives $500 for correctly solving the most math problems during the semester. However, as AI becomes increasingly normalized and integrated into students' studies, the Math Problem of the Week has undergone major changes.
In the past, the process was simple: post a math equation every few weeks, wait for responses and score students accordingly. But during the 2025-26 school year, Prasit Bhattacharya, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and a developer of the program, said an unusual trend began to emerge.
"Typically, it would be around 30 to 40 students to start with, and then all of a sudden, by week three or four, you have your core five to 10 students who are participating," Bhattacharya said. "And in that, we saw the participation rate. If it's around 20 people by problem five, then we would be really alarmed and try to pose a slightly more difficult scenario."
What was a routine decline in participation as the problems became increasingly difficult began to change. As AI became more prevalent in schools, Bhattacharya said the participation in the competition began unexpectedly increasing.
"We realized that either the math problem of the week has to evolve, or it has to stop, because we cannot give $500 to anyone who has zero idea about what this is," he said. "It's supposed to have valor. People put this in their CV and it's recognized."
To combat AI, Bhattacharya and other associates began developing a new format late last year. In January they launched a two-phase system in which top-performing students are invited to compete for the $500 prize in an in-person exam.
"While AI is doing a great job, it has its own drawbacks, and I'm sure the technology is going to improve and it's going to help us a lot," Bhattacharya said. "But it undercuts the fact that now, even more than ever, we need more people with math skills."
Addressing the challenges posed by AI isn't the only initiative in the math department. Bhattacharya said graduate students and postdocs have recently volunteered to help expand the Math Problem of the Week to high school students.
While the program began locally, Bhattacharya said he wanted to expand this outreach beyond Las Cruces. After speaking with local schools, he and other volunteers began contacting high schools in El Paso, Texas about participating in the competition.
"We're going to send the school the math problem and they can run it on their own internally. Ultimately, they'll send a few students for phase two from their school," he said. " The top three students get a scholarship of $6,000, which is a total of $1,500 per year. But only if they decide to have math as their major or minor."
This outreach not only expands students’ interest in the math program, but it also shows others the opportunities at NMSU and the steps programs will take for its students.
"This is not just about winning money," he said. "We want more students, and we want more math majors. We want the department to expand."
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CUTLINE: The last six winners (2024-2026) of the Math Problem of the Week competition hosted by the Department of Mathematical Sciences. From top left: Camila Gonzalez Lujan, Donna Ita, Shivam Yadav, Stephan Fountain, Shivam Yadav and Conrad Wesley. (Photo Courtesy Department of Mathematical Sciences)
CUTLINE: NMSU’s Math Problem of the Week develops a new anti-AI system and expands to high schools across Las Cruces and El Paso. (Photo Courtesy Department of Mathematical Sciences)