2 years ago

Category: artificial-intelligence

For decades mathematician Donald Knuth, a professor emeritus at Stanford University, has been a revered figure in the world of programming. In 1962 he began writing a mammoth technical opus titled “The Art of Computer Programming” — which he’s still working on nearly sixty years later. Because of his ongoing work, Knuth guards his time carefully — so it was a real treat when the 83-year-old programming legend appeared for a wide-ranging conversation on the podcast of Lex Fridman, an AI researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But in addition, due to the success of his programming books, “I didn’t need the income! I already had a good job, and people were buying enough books that it would bring me plenty of supplemental income for everything my kids needed for education, whatever,” he said.

Knuth: I strive for that, not that I ever think I’m going to get close to it.