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Knuth has only so many productive years left on this planet and he wants to spend them all on TAOCP (and a few other projects). He had given up email by the 90s
by ekidd 3y ago
Knuth has only so many productive years left on this planet and he wants to spend them all on TAOCP (and a few other projects). He had given up email by the 90s and he is incredibly disciplined on what he devotes his time to. If you want to get in touch, send him an actual letter. Last I checked, he reads paper mail once a quarter or so. He's also an utter perfectionist in his own work, in a way that few people ever achieve.
So he's curious enough to try ChatGPT. But then he's smart enough to walk away.
- gtirloni 3y agoHe did pass judgment though by implying GPT is not "authentic and trustworthy". That what got me thinking, not his desire to focus on other things (it's his time, he can do whatever he wants).
- grugagag 3y agoI think he nailed it on that, chatGPT is not trustworthy. Not sure about authentic, halucinations could be authentic ideas in their own right
- ekidd 3y agoKnuth writes people checks for reporting bugs in his software or errors in his books, including at least one $327.68 check for a TeX bug. According to Wikipedia, he has written over $20,000 in checks. (Relatively few of these are ever cashed.) Knuth's standard of "authentic and trustworthy" is set remarkably high.