AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton to receive Nobel Prize in physics today

By Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press on December 10, 2024.

British Canadian computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton and co-laureate John Hopfield are set to receive their Nobel Prize for physics at a ceremony in Stockholm today.

Hinton and Hopfield are being given the prize because their use of physics developed some of the underpinnings of machine learning, a computer science that helps artificial intelligence mimic how humans learn.

The accolade handed out by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is valued at 11 million Swedish kronor, which is about C$1.45 million.

Hopfield and Hinton will split the money with half of Hinton’s share going to Water First, a Creemore, Ont., organization training Indigenous communities to develop and provide access to safe water systems.

Hinton is a professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Toronto but is often referred to as the godfather of AI because of how fundamental his research has been to the technology. Hopfield is a professor at Princeton University.

Hinton’s colleagues and students are set to gather at three of UofT’s campuses to watch the Stockholm Concert Hall ceremony where he will receive the award.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.

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