Machine learning pioneers receive Nobel Prize in physics for laying the foundation of AI.

• Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking contributions to the field of artificial intelligence.
• Hopfield, an American at Princeton University, is known as the godfather of AI, along with Hinton, a dual citizen of Canada and Britain.
• Mark Pearce, a Nobel physics committee member, states that Hopfield and Hinton laid the foundation for the machine learning revolution.

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, two pioneers in artificial intelligence, were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday for their contributions to the development of machine learning, which is transforming our daily lives but also poses new risks to humanity.

Hinton, a renowned figure in the field of artificial intelligence, is a Canadian-British national who works at the University of Toronto, while Hopfield, an American, is based at Princeton.

"Nobel physics committee member Mark Pearce stated that these two gentlemen were the pioneers who did the fundamental work based on physical understanding, leading to the revolution in machine learning and artificial intelligence."

Ellen Moons, a Nobel committee member at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, stated that the artificial neural networks, which are interconnected computer nodes modeled after neurons in the human brain, are widely used in science and medicine and have also become part of our daily lives, such as in facial recognition and language translation.

The impact of Hopfield's 1982 work continues to amaze him, as he stated in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Hinton predicted that AI will have a "significant impact" on civilization, resulting in advancements in productivity and healthcare.

He stated in an open call with reporters and officials of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that it would be comparable with the Industrial Revolution.

Hinton stated that instead of surpassing individuals in physical strength, it will surpass them in intellectual capacity. As we lack experience with having things that are smarter than us, it will be a wonderful experience.

"We must also consider the potential negative outcomes, especially the possibility of them spiraling out of control."

Warning of AI risks

The Nobel committee also mentioned fears about the possible flipside.

While the development of moons has brought immense benefits, it has also raised concerns about our future. It is our collective responsibility to use this new technology safely and ethically for the benefit of all humankind.

Hinton expressed similar concerns. He left his job at Google to openly discuss the risks associated with the technology he contributed to developing.

Hinton expressed concern that the outcome of this could result in systems that are more intelligent than humans, ultimately taking control.

Hopfield, who supported early petitions by researchers advocating for strict control of the technology, compared the risks and benefits of machine learning to the development of viruses and nuclear energy, both of which have the potential to benefit and harm society.

Neither winner was home to get the call

Neither winner was present when they received the news. Hopfield, who was staying with his wife at a cottage in Hampshire, England, said that after grabbing coffee and getting his flu shot, he opened his computer to a flurry of activity.

He remarked that he had never received so many emails in his life. On his desk, a bottle of champagne and a bowl of soup were waiting for him. However, he was uncertain if any other physicists were present in town to share in the celebration.

Hinton said he was shocked at the honor.

He was taken aback when the Nobel committee contacted him on the phone. He had no idea that this would occur, and he was staying at a low-cost hotel without internet access at the time.

Hinton's work considered ‘the birth’ of AI

In the 1980s, Hinton, 76, developed a technique called backpropagation that has been crucial in teaching machines to learn by adjusting errors until they vanish. This process is similar to how a student learns from a teacher, with an initial solution evaluated and faults pointed out for correction and repair. The process continues until the solution aligns with the network's perception of reality.

In 2012, his team at the University of Toronto won the prestigious ImageNet computer vision competition using a neural network, which sparked a flurry of copycats and was a significant moment in hindsight and AI history, according to Stanford University computer scientist and ImageNet creator Fei-Fei Li.

She stated that the birth of modern AI is considered by many people.

In 2019, the Turing Award, computer science's top prize, was awarded to Hinton, along with fellow AI scientists Yoshua Bengio and Yann LeCun.

"In 2019, Hinton told the AP that for a long time, people believed our actions were nonsense. They thought we were misguided and our activities were a surprising waste of time for supposedly intelligent individuals."

"Don't let others discourage you if they deem your research as foolish."

And Hinton himself uses machine learning in his daily life, he said.

""I rely on GPT-4 to answer my questions, even though it can sometimes hallucinate, but it's still a useful not-very-good expert," Hinton stated at the Nobel announcement."

Hopfield's work was foundation for Hinton's

The Nobel committee announced that Hopfield, 91, developed an associative memory capable of storing and reconstructing images and other patterns in data.

In a video posted online by The Franklin Institute after awarding him a physics prize in 2019, Hopfield stated that what fascinates him most is still the question of how mind arises from machine.

Hinton developed a new network based on Hopfield's network, which utilizes the Boltzmann machine method, capable of identifying distinctive features in specific data types, according to the committee.

Bengio, who was mentored by Hinton and "profoundly shaped" by Hopfield’s thinking, stated to the AP that the winners both "recognized something that was not evident: The connections between physics and learning in neural networks, which form the foundation of contemporary AI."

He expressed his "great delight" that they won the prize, as it is beneficial for the field and acknowledges the importance of history.

The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of genetic material that act as cellular on and off switches, which could potentially lead to effective treatments for diseases such as cancer.

The $1 million cash award for the prize is from a bequest left by Alfred Nobel, the creator of the award and a Swedish inventor. The laureates will receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, which commemorates Nobel's death anniversary.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be announced on Wednesday, followed by the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, and the Nobel Prize in Economics will be awarded on October 14th.