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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Hello everyone, I can confirm the possibilities in this area.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">CENA here at the Jernigan Institute has been working with Al Maneki and a team of mathematicians on using AI for this use case, and the results are tentatively promising.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ligatures:none">Jonathan Mosen<br>
Executive Director for Accessibility Excellence<br>
National Federation of the Blind <br>
410-659-9314 ex 2233 <br>
<a href="mailto:jmosen@nfb.org">jmosen@nfb.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><br>
Reminder: Attend <a href="https://nfb.org/convention" target="_blank">National Convention</a>, July 3-8, 2026, in Austin, Texas.<br>
“It’s the time of year where blind people are the majority.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://nfb.org/"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:windowtext;mso-ligatures:none;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="298" height="133" style="width:3.1041in;height:1.3854in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01DCEF36.D7441CF0" alt="National Federation of the Blind logo, Live the life you want tagline, nfb.org"></span></a><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"> NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces@nfbnet.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Louis Maher via NFBCS<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, May 29, 2026 5:54 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> nfbcs@nfbnet.org<br>
<b>Cc:</b> Louis Maher <ljmaher03@outlook.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [NFBCS] AI and STEM Access<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt">Hello,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt">A friend of mine, Robert Shelton, sent me this note.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Louis Maher<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Phone: 713-444-7838<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Email:
<a href="mailto:ljmaher03@outlook.com">ljmaher03@outlook.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">
<a href="mailto:rshelton1@gmail.com">rshelton1@gmail.com</a> <<a href="mailto:rshelton1@gmail.com">rshelton1@gmail.com</a>>
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, May 28, 2026 10:37 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:ljmaher03@outlook.com">ljmaher03@outlook.com</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> AI and STEM Access<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Good morning. I recently saw the agenda for the CS Division meeting of the NFB, and I wanted to mention something I think could be significant. Over the last few months, I’ve been experimenting with ways to use AI models
to interpret math. There are a few gaps in my knowledge of special functions, and I’ve always been interested in filling them, but most higher math is found in inaccessible sources. What I discovered is that models like Gemini and ChatGPT will not only find
the content for you, but upon request, they will translate it into a plane text representation. Now, it’s not exactly LaTeX, but it’s actually just plane text. For example, I was looking for a proof of the duplication theorem for Carlson Symmetric Forms (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlson_symmetric_form">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlson_symmetric_form</a>),
a nontrivial example, and it was easily readable with a screen reader, and I suspect would have been laid out well for a Braille display. The most exciting part is that you can always ask for clarification if the model uses notation you don’t understand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This is not quite ready for prime time yet. I spent quite a bit of time debunking ChatGPT’s ideas about how the proof should go, but the translation part, i.e. the capability to translate from PDF, or graphics, or (shudder)
MathML into plane text is solid.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">It is hard for me to overstate the importance of this development. To get plane text, all I had to do was explain that I was a totally blind mathematician trying to learn a new area. I had to remind ChatGPT when it “forgot”
and used MathML, which I detest, but it was quick to fix the issue. If memory serves, most of my research was with ChatGPt 3.x, so by no means the most powerful model available. I tried Gemini, and that worked great, but I don’t have nearly as much experience
as with ChatGPT.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I think we need to start using this capability aggressively so the model developers will realize there is a market for it. I believe that including a translation capability for math content may have been a deliberate
decision, and could easily disappear if not used.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Thanks for listening. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">--Bob<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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