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?
09.06.2025 07:00
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
Google says its updated Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model is better at coding - TechCrunch
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
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?
What are the most meaningful Jewish jokes that reveal insights about Jewish culture?
You can have your cake and eat it too
(Mumbles of assent)
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
How can MeTV Toons compete with other national broadcast TV networks?
Whatever.
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."
How do we greet in German, French, Spanish, and Italian?
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
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:
Ethane Exporter Says U.S. Won’t Allow Shipments to China - WSJ
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Whatever.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
When was you wife swapping fantasy started?
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
New Study Reveals the #1 Sleep Mistake That Harms the Brain - AOL.com
"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?"
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
Jury In Harvey Weinstein Rape Retrial Set To Start Deliberations Wednesday – Update - Deadline
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
There you go.^†
[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.