John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for contributions to machine learning with artificial neural networks

John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions to the foundation of modern machine learning. The prize recognizes their use of tools from physics to develop methods for storing and reconstructing information, and their invention of artificial neural networks that have revolutionized society. Hinton's work on neural networks in the 1980s laid the groundwork for machine learning technology, while Hopfield's associative memory framework can store and reconstruct images. The pair's research has raised concerns about the dangers of machines that could outsmart humans, as Hinton himself warned in 2023 when he resigned from Google to advocate for the responsible use of AI. The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the prize sum is shared between the winners if there are multiple awardees.