Lifted in toto from Sherwood News, October 8:
The Nobel Prize awards don’t have a category for computer science. But that didn’t stop the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences from bestowing The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to two pioneers in the field of artificial intelligence: John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton.
The pair was recognized for their foundational work on artificial neural networks (ANN), a core technology underlying today’s explosion of innovative AI tools.
Taking inspiration from the structures of the brain, ANNs mimic how neurons are connected via synapses, providing a way for computers to store and retrieve information.
In 2018, Hinton won the Turing Award, considered one of the highest honors in the field of computer science.
In a scientific background paper released today, The Nobel Committee for Physics wrote, “Simply put, thanks to their work Humanity now has a new item in its toolbox, which we can choose to use for good purposes. Machine learning based on ANNs is currently revolutionizing science, engineering and daily life.”
