Two Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Physics for Discoveries Enabling Machine Learning
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics is announced in Stockholm, Sweden, Oct. 8, 2024. Photo: Xinhua
October 8, 2024 Hour: 9:25 am
Artificial neural networks have become integral to daily life, with applications such as facial recognition and language translation.
On Tuesday, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics went to two scientists, John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton, for their foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.
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This year’s laureates for the prize “used fundamental concepts from statistical physics to design artificial neural networks that function as associative memories and find patterns in large data sets,” said Ellen Moons, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.
“Although computers cannot think, machines can now mimic functions such as memory and learning. This year’s laureates in physics have helped make this possible. Using fundamental concepts and methods from physics, they have developed technologies that use structures in networks to process information,” the Nobel Prize Organization pointed out.
“Machine learning differs from traditional software, which works like a type of recipe. The software receives data, which is processed according to a clear description and produces the results, much like when someone collects ingredients and processes them by following a recipe, producing a cake. Instead of this, in machine learning the computer learns by example, enabling it to tackle problems that are too vague and complicated to be managed by step by step instructions,” it added.
Hopfield works at Princeton University and Hinton at the University of Toronto. They used tools from physics to develop methods that are the foundation of today’s powerful machine learning, the academy said in a press release.
Artificial neural networks, now crucial to various fields, have advanced physics research and become integral to daily life, with applications such as facial recognition and language translation, Moons noted.
Moons said the benefits of machine learning are extensive, but the technology’s rapid development has raised concerns about its long-term effects. She stressed that “humans carry the responsibility for using this new technology in a safe and ethical way for the greatest benefit of humankind.”
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua – Nobel Prize Organization