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?
08.06.2025 17:49
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
You can have your cake and eat it too
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
150-Million-Year-Old Stegosaurus Skull Rewrites Dinosaur Evolution - SciTechDaily
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
[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.
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
(Mumbles of assent)
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
If Trump were to lose in 2024, would that be the end of his grip on the Republican Party?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Whatever.
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
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:
Space Force demos rapid turnaround on latest GPS III launch - Defense News
When he's standing, in front of you
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
[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."
What was your best unexpected reunion with your childhood best friend?
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
There you go.^†
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.
"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?"
Whatever.