‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton receives Nobel Prize in physics

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

Artificial intelligence pioneer Geoffrey Hinton and co-laureate John Hopfield have received their Nobel Prize for physics at a ceremony in Stockholm.

The accolade was bestowed on the pair of computer scientists by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden after a presentation by Nobel physics committee chair Ellen Moons.

Moons told the audience gathered at the Stockholm Concert Hall that Hinton and Hopfield’s discoveries and inventions have been fundamental.

They were given the prize because their use of physics developed some of the underpinnings of machine learning, a branch of computer science that helps AI mimic how humans learn.

Back in Canada, where Hinton is a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, colleagues and students gathered at three of the school’s campuses to watch a livestream of the ceremony.

Hinton has said he will donate a portion of the 11 million Swedish kronor – about $1.4 million Canadian dollars – prize money he and Hopfield will split to Water First, an organization working to boost Indigenous access to water.

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

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