AI pioneers win 2024 Nobel Prize in physics, chemistry
Hinton, Hopfield and Hassabis among the prize winners
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their pioneering work in machine learning.
Hinton, sometimes referred to as the "Godfather of AI," and Hopfield have been instrumental in developing the fundamental principles that underpin today's powerful AI systems.
Their research has laid the groundwork for advancements in fields ranging from climate modelling to medical image analysis.
Hinton, a British-Canadian professor at the University of Toronto, has made significant contributions to the development of neural networks, a type of machine learning algorithm inspired by the human brain.
His work has paved the way for deep learning, a powerful technique that enables AI systems to learn from experience and improve their performance over time.
"I had no idea this would happen. I'm very surprised," Hinton said after the announcement of the award.
He said his work on artificial neural networks was ground-breaking.
"It's going to be like the Industrial Revolution - but instead of our physical capabilities, it's going to exceed our intellectual capabilities."
Hopfield, an American professor at Princeton University, is renowned for his invention of the Hopfield network, a type of associative memory model that can store and retrieve patterns. His work has had a profound impact on the fields of computer science, physics, and neuroscience.
Their research has laid the groundwork for advancements in fields ranging from climate modelling to medical image analysis.
The Nobel Prize committee highlighted the widespread applications of Hinton and Hopfield's work, noting that their research has become an integral part of our daily lives. From facial recognition and language translation to climate modelling and medical diagnostics, their innovations have transformed countless industries.
The winners will share a prize fund worth 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately £810,000).
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences also announced this week that the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry will be awarded to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M. Jumper for their contributions to protein science.
David Baker, a distinguished professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, was honoured for his work in computational protein design. His research has enabled the creation of entirely new proteins with potential applications in fields such as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and nanotechnology.
Sir Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for their development of AlphaFold2, an AI system that can accurately predict the 3D structures of proteins.
Born in London, Hassabis's love for technology began at a young age. While most teenagers were spending their time playing video games, Hassabis was creating them. His early success as a co-designer of the popular game Theme Park sparked a lifelong interest in computer science and AI.
After completing a PhD in cognitive neuroscience, Hassabis co-founded DeepMind, an artificial intelligence startup that was acquired by Google in 2014. Under his leadership, DeepMind has achieved ground-breaking results in a variety of fields, including protein structure prediction, game playing, and healthcare.
AlphaFold2 has been hailed as a game-changer in the field of protein structure prediction. The system can accurately predict the structures of millions of proteins, providing invaluable insights into their function and interactions. This has enabled researchers to study diseases at a molecular level and develop new therapeutic strategies.
"Receiving the Nobel Prize is the honour of a lifetime. Thank you to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, to John Jumper and the AlphaFold team, the wider DeepMind and Google teams, and to all my colleagues past and present that made this moment possible," Hassabis said in a statement after he won the laurel.
"I hope we'll look back on AlphaFold as the first proof point of AI's incredible potential to accelerate scientific discovery."
The award ceremony will take place in Stockholm on 10th December, the anniversary of Nobel's death.