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: 20.06.2025 10:52
Whatever.
You can have your cake and eat it too
When he's standing, in front of you
How do I identify fake friends in life?
"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?"
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:
"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."
What is your review of The Office (U.S. TV series)?
"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"
A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.
How can we become the best humans? How can we trust each other?
[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."
^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).
"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"
OnePlus Watch 3 gets a smaller 43mm size alongside new Buds 4 in the US next month - 9to5Google
My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.
[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"
^† They rationalise their decision thusly:
Can a cop pull you over walking home asking why you are out so late?
Whatever.
Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:
Why wait any longer for the world to begin?
What’s one positive trait you’ve gained because of BPD?
(Mumbles of assent)
[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.
Why wait any longer for the one you love?
Don't you think Democrats are so full of it stool softener and an enema couldn't help them?
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.
"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"
There you go.^†
Why would you think you're fit to be a model?
"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"
(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)
… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*