Editing Proof assistant (section)

{{Short description|Software tool to assist with the development of formal proofs by human–machine collaboration}}
{{for|verification in computer science|formal verification}}
{{for|the academic conference|Interactive Theorem Proving (conference)}}
{{distinguish|Interactive proof system}}
{{missing information|[[automated proof checking]]|date=February 2024}}
{{more footnotes|date=November 2018}}

[[Image:CoqProofOfDecidablityOfEqualityOnNaturalNumbers.png|thumb|upright=1.7|An interactive proof session in CoqIDE, showing the proof script on the left and the proof state on the right]]
In [[computer science]] and [[mathematical logic]], a '''proof assistant''' or '''interactive theorem prover''' is a software tool to assist with the development of [[formal proof]]s by human–machine collaboration. This involves some sort of interactive proof editor, or other [[User interface|interface]], with which a human can guide the search for proofs, the details of which are stored in, and some steps provided by, a [[computer]].

A recent effort within this field is making these tools use [[artificial intelligence]] to automate the formalization of ordinary mathematics.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ornes |first=Stephen |date=August 27, 2020 |title=Quanta Magazine – How Close Are Computers to Automating Mathematical Reasoning? |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-close-are-computers-to-automating-mathematical-reasoning-20200827/}}</ref>