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: 18.06.2025 17:50
Whatever.
When he's standing, in front of you
"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?"
Do all rocket engines emit harmful gases into the atmosphere during launch?
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
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.
Which fish tastes good for South Indian curries?
You can have your cake and eat it too
[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.
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Who writes and reads novels nowadays?
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
[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."
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
Doctors Say You Might Be Eating Way Too Much Salt — Here’s How To Tell - BuzzFeed
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Would you join a gym or workout at home and why?
(Mumbles of assent)
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:
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
We white women don't like white men. Do you have any issue with that?
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
Whatever.
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?