How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage to win a Nobel Prize in physics when computer science already has its own Nobel Prize equivalent in the Turing Awards?
12.06.2025 02:21
(Mumbles of assent)
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"Hey guys, AI is pretty big so let's centre our prizes on it this year. We can get some attention, and it's all about advertising, at the end of the day, isn't it?"
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Tuesday Telescope: Lighting, sprites, and airglow over Central America - Ars Technica
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
[The basic structure of artificial neural networks] has close similarities with spin models in statistical physics applied to magnetism or alloy theory. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes research exploiting this connection to make breakthrough methodological advances in the field of ANN.
How did you get to be a leftist?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
In awarding prizes, the Nobel Committees often seem only marginally more competent than MTG is at explaining meteorology. And if they can give a literature prize for lyrics like:
Largest Horned Dinosaur Ever Found Looks Like It Walked Off a Marvel Set - Indian Defence Review
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
In December 1973, when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, comedian Tom Lehrer dropped his mic and stamped on it—satire had just died.
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
How come Taiwan is LGBT friendly, yet Japan and South Korea are not?
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
‘We’re right at the epicenter’ - Meduza
Whatever.
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
There you go.^†
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
When he's standing, in front of you
[Younger voice] "But wait a minute, Ising-Lenz goes back to the 1920's. And didn't Hinton plagiarise rather a lot? He also didn't invent modern backprop, did he, that's Linnainmaa? And Amari preceded Hopfield, too. That's not a good look."
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
You can have your cake and eat it too
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Porsche Built A One-Off Street-Legal 963 Hypercar For 88-Year-Old Roger Penske - Jalopnik