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 14:45
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.
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
Marco Rubio sanctions ICC for targeting US and Israel - BBC
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
(Mumbles of assent)
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
Has a psychic ever made a crazy prediction that turned out to be true?
When he's standing, in front of you
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"
[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."
"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 idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
Whatever.
We’re About To Talk To Dolphins… But Are We Ready To Hear The Truth? - The Daily Galaxy
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
[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.
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.
There you go.^†
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Whatever.
This Philosophy Quiz Will Prove Whether You're Actually Smart Or Just Pretending - BuzzFeed
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
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:
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Our planet’s oxygen levels will drop, and there’s no way to stop it - Boy Genius Report