Nobel Prize in Physics 2024

This year, the Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded jointly to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton, for their contributions to the field of artificial intelligence, specifically for their discoveries and inventions that have been the basis for the development of machine learning ( a form of artificial intelligence) through artificial neural networks.

The two laureates of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics used tools from physics to make such discoveries and inventions.

One of the most common forms of artificial intelligence is machine learning using artificial neural networks. This technology was originally inspired by the structure of the brain. In an artificial neural network, neurons in the brain are represented by nodes that have different values. These nodes influence each other through connections comparable to synapses and which can strengthen or weaken each other. This year’s honorees have done important work with artificial neural networks since the 1980s.

John Hopfield created an associative memory capable of storing and reconstructing images and other types of patterns in data.

Geoffrey Hinton invented a method capable of autonomously finding properties in data and thus performing tasks such as identifying specific elements in images.

On the left, John J. Hopfield. At right, Geoffrey E. Hinton. (Drawings: Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach)

John J. Hopfield, from Princeton University in New Jersey, United States, was born on July 15, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Geoffrey E. Hinton, from the University of Toronto in Canada, was born on December 6, 1947 in London, United Kingdom. (Fountain: NCYT by Amazings)