Announcement of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”.

#NobelPrize

[TheMagicRat]

The awkward consequences of Alfred Nobel's inability to predict the existence of computers and computer science as a field.

[oscarfernandez]

Geoffrey E. Hinton contributions in CS/AI are amazing, but this award makes no sense. There's the Turing Award - which Hinton already got.
This year's award shows very clearly that the worldwide underfunding of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, has had a heavy price, that is crystallizing now. There are probably more physicists currently Wall Street than doing research.

[千種栄]

The academy should have added the Nobel Prize in Computer science to existing prizes.
It will deteriorate "the original" physics.
Why must the two different kinds of science compete for one prize?

[vivienseguy]

We got machine learning researchers winning Nobel Prize in Physics before GTA 6

[SheikhHakim-bw]

A CS student... but this award is not fathomable. Who on earth considers ML as physics?

[Irbdmakrtb]

That’s really an insult to the people who are working on the real physics.

[freewilly]

Why is this a nobel prize in physics? Computational science, if anything.

[vladthemagnificent]

Can anyone explain how matrix multiplication is physics now?

[NyabsinoFyles]

This should have been under Turing and other mathematical or engineering awards, not Nobel Prize in Physics. I'm puzzled as to how computer science and mathematical computation became physics. This is very disappointing to all aspiring physicists. I'm very disappointed by what this has become!!

[northcore]

How I feel after doing my first derivative

[Lalit-ywtb]

"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined"

How is this contribution worthy to the field of Physics?

Come on.

This is disrespectful to so many talented physicists who are actively contributing to many fields in physics.
I don't understand how they(nobel committee) can sleep after doing this. Truly baffling and utterly disrespectful to the prize itself.

You can maybe create a seperate category for computer science. This also sets a bad precendant, are physicists going to have to compete with computer scientists now? Isn't there a nobel of computer science already there? Turing prize? What?

This makes zero sense. Have a little shame. Don't disrespect physics like this.

[SpaceVYX]

Something that can destroy the entire world gets a nobel in physics.

[Darhan]

If computer science is physics, then biology and chemistry are also physics. These are all "emergent physics" rather than basic or fundamental physics. I think Hinton deserves award on this level, but is physics the most appropriate category? AI and machine learning are contributing to advances in physics (and chemistry and biochemistry, medicine, etc...). But does that make them physics?

[ai_outline]

Physics is now claiming computer science? Outrageous…

[Alex-okmg]

Physics? Probably goes to show that real work in physics has stalled along the way along with String Theory!

[ohyeah]

a mathematical model for information got a Nobel prize of Physics, what is the physical breakthrough?

[luisluiscunha]

Geoffrey, bless you. First, you challenged narrow-minded views in AI, and now you're doing the same in Physics. ❤ Go, Sir! I was inspired by the work of you and Hopfield on ANNs when I went to study Psychology in the early '90s. I later pursued Computer Science as well, and today, I find myself intellectually captivated by Finance.

[RandomVariable]

Please could someone explain why did they get the prize instead of someone else doing actual physics research?

[hoangnt]

I work and publish in ML and I think this makes no sense at all. First, AI hasn't been able to significantly improve our lives, most AI applications are POC or recommender systems that make our lives worse. Second, if the prize is going to ML/AI field, there are many other candidates that actually contribute to the understanding of the fields by building mathematical theorems. I was at Hinton's Turing lecture in 2019 and I had to walk out when he started making fun of mathematicians. This prize is more and more politically motivated than based on actual merit.

[Srkt]

Nobel prize in physics should goes to those who have done something which explain the mother nature.if someone using magnet making some device it's technology but how magnets works? the mechanism of it is part of physics.