STOCKHOLM – British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton and American John Hopfield won the 2024 Nobel Prize in physics for discoveries and inventions that laid the foundation for machine learning, the Nobel Committee for Physics announced on Oct 8.
“This year’s physics laureates’ breakthroughs stand on the foundations of physical science,” the committee said on X. “They have shown a completely new way for us to use computers to aid and to guide us to tackle many of the challenges our society faces.”
In announcing the award, the committee noted that machine learning “has long been important for research, including the sorting and analysis of vast amounts of data”.
“John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton used tools from physics to construct methods that helped lay the foundation for today’s powerful machine learning,” the committee said.
“Machine learning based on artificial neural networks is currently revolutionising science, engineering and daily life,” it added.
Both laureates …