The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two scientists, Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield, for their work on machine learning.
British-Canadian Professor Geoffrey Hinton is sometimes referred to as the “Godfather of AI” and said he was flabbergasted.
He resigned from Google in 2023, and has warned about the dangers of machines that could outsmart humans.
The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences at a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
American Professor John Hopfield is a professor at Princeton University in the US, and British-Canadian Professor Geoffrey Hinton is a professor at University of Toronto in Canada.
Machine learning is key to artificial intelligence as it develops how a computer can train itself to generate information.
It drives a vast range of technology that we use today from how we search the internet to editing photographs on our phones.
“I’m flabbergasted. I had no idea this would happen,” said Professor Geoffrey Hinton, speaking on the phone to the Academy minutes after the announcement.
The Academy listed some of the crucial applications of the two scientists’ work, including improving climate modelling, development of solar cells, and analysis of medical images.
Prof Hinton’s pioneering research on neural networks paved the way for current AI systems like ChatGPT.
In artificial intelligence, neural networks are systems that are similar to the human brain in the way they learn and process information. They enable AIs to learn from experience, as a person would. This is called deep learning.
Professor Hinton said his work on artificial neural networks was revolutionary.
But he said he also had concerns about the future. He said he would do the same work again, “but I worry that the overall consequences of this might be systems that are more intelligent than us that might eventually take control”.
The winners share a prize fund worth 11m Swedish kronor (£810,000).