That's not the same as talking with the person who would have made the proof, and it's hard to argue that's comparable at all.

The OP would never, EVER, have had the opportunity to talk with the mythical Japanese math genius over tea. Their story is a fantasy, probably meant to help the OP ascribe meaning to an otherwise scary existence. Which may be at the root of the anti-AI brigade's unconcious motiviations.

While the math genius in this thread is mythical, I sort of had Shinichi Mochizuki in mind.

Why are you so sure about that? Research communities are (used to be?) very tightly-knit with a lot of communication, exchange, and networking. Arguably, the more niche the research area, the more tightly knit and personal.

This is what I hear most about from friends who stayed in academia and research: the pain of losing that. Conferences stopped being interesting, because there's barely an exchange of ideas anymore. Nobody trying out new approaches, everybody just pulling the same lever in an endless loop. Nobody with anything interesting to share, and no potential to learn.