Here's a research mathematician replying to pretty much exactly this question, and I think it's worth reading: https://davidbessis.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-ph

Here's a research mathematician replying to pretty much exactly this question, and I think it's worth reading: https://davidbessis.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-phd-student https://davidbessis.substack.com/p/letter-to-a-phd-student It's also relevant for non-AI reasons. The upshot is: Do it if you want to. You're at an age where you're supposed to be mostly learning, but over time, start transitioning into whyever you did this (which doesn't have to mean staying in academia, and in fact can mean teaching or popularisation or consulting or...).