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?
10.06.2025 04:56
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
You can have your cake and eat it too
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Is it true that LGB should drop T?
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
What is the best interracial stories that you hear or know and want to share?
Whatever.
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
"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?"
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
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.
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
How did Kate Mulgrew feel about Jeri Ryan joining the cast of Star Trek: Voyager?
There you go.^†
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:
[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.
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
[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."
When he's standing, in front of you
Walkoff caps ‘unreal 24 hours’ for Mariners’ Cole Young - Seattle Sports
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
(Mumbles of assent)
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
What Is Agentic AI? Everything to Know About Artificial Intelligence Agents - CNET
Whatever.
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Can the effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) be reversed?