Complexity and parallel processing: an interview with Richard Karp

Abstract

In the following interview, which took place at ACM 85 in Denver, Karp discusses the relation of his work to leading-edge computing topics like parallel processing and artificial intelligence. Tracing his experience as a pioneer in highly theoretical computer science, Karp describes how the decision to go against established wisdom led to the work for which he is best known and how a colleague's findings led him to see links between two previously unrelated areas. Throughout, he stresses the exchange of ideas with colleagues that helped yield fundamental insights.