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?
Last Updated: 22.06.2025 03:02
Whatever.
When he's standing, in front of you
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Can a Trump supporter explain what was wrong with what Bishop Budde said to Donald Trump?
You can have your cake and eat it too
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
This Genetic ‘Trick’ Helped the Black Death Linger for Centuries - Gizmodo
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
"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."
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Former church in Northern Kentucky now a heavenly home for sale - WWMT
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.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
[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."
China's electric cars are cheaper, but is there a deeper cost? - BBC
Whatever.
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
A new type of X-point radiator that prevents tokamaks from overheating - Phys.org
[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.
There you go.^†
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Portugal beat Spain on penalties to win Nations League - Yahoo Sports
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
(Mumbles of assent)
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:
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
How to Make AI Faster and Smarter—With a Little Help from Physics - WIRED