Hopfield and Hinton Win 2024 Nobel Prize for Breakthroughs in Machine Learning

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced that the Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 has been awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their groundbreaking contributions to the field of machine learning. The laureates’ work has revolutionized the development of powerful artificial neural networks, which are the backbone of today’s artificial intelligence systems.

Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, utilizes artificial neural networks inspired by the structure and function of the human brain. In these networks, individual nodes represent neurons, and connections between nodes mimic synapses. Hopfield and Hinton have both made significant contributions to advancing this technology since the 1980s.

John Hopfield, a professor at Princeton University, created an associative memory within an artificial neural network that can store and reconstruct images and patterns in data. His network, known as the Hopfield network, uses principles from physics to describe the energy of the system. By finding values for the connections between nodes, the network is trained to minimize the system’s energy, resulting in the recovery of the stored images from distorted or incomplete input.

Geoffrey Hinton, a professor at the University of Toronto, built upon Hopfield’s work and developed the Boltzmann machine. Using tools from statistical physics, the Boltzmann machine can recognize characteristic elements in a given type of data. Hinton trained this machine by providing it with examples that are likely to occur in real-world scenarios. The Boltzmann machine can then be utilized to classify images or generate new examples of the trained pattern type.

The impact of Hopfield and Hinton’s work extends far beyond the field of physics. These artificial neural networks have found applications in a wide range of areas, including the development of new materials with specific properties. The laureates’ contributions have been of the utmost benefit and have driven the explosive growth of machine learning in recent years.

The Nobel Prize in Physics comes with a prize amount of 11 million Swedish kronor, which will be equally shared between Hopfield and Hinton. Their work exemplifies the ability of physics and mathematics to shape and advance technology, benefiting society on a global scale.

About Laureates:

John J. Hopfield:
Born 1933 in Chicago, IL, USA
PhD 1958 from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Professor at Princeton University, NJ, USA

Geoffrey E. Hinton:
Born 1947 in London, UK
PhD 1978 from The University of Edinburgh, UK
Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada

About the Nobel Prize:

The Nobel Prize is annually awarded by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The Academy, founded in 1739, is an independent organization dedicated to promoting the sciences and strengthening their influence in society. While it focuses on the natural sciences and mathematics, the Academy actively encourages interdisciplinary collaboration and the exchange of ideas between different fields. For further information, visit www.kva.se and www.nobelprize.org

Here’s an official press release: The Nobel Prize in Physics 2024