AI meets Physics: 2024 Nobel Prize awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton
John J. Hopfield of Princeton University, USA and Geoffrey E. Hinton of the University of Toronto, Canada have been awarded with the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. They have been recognized "for basic discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks," Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Hopfield and Hinton advanced techniques fundamental to contemporary machine learning using physics principles. Inspired by atomic spin characteristics, John Hopfield created an associative memory model storing and reconstructing images via a network. By means of step-by-step modifications, his Hopfield network detects low-energy states, thus restoring incomplete or distorted images.
Using statistical physics to identify and classify patterns in data, Geoffrey Hinton expanded this work with the Boltzmann machine. This model independently detects components within photos, enabling artificial intelligence to advance quickly.
Their work is now fundamental for artificial intelligence since it lets computers replicate the neural networks of the brain to handle difficult tasks. Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics Ellen Moons highlighted that “The laureates’ work has already been of the greatest benefit. In physics we use artificial neural networks in a vast range of areas, such as developing new materials with specific properties.”
