VinFuture Prize Winner Receives 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics

VinFuture Prize Winner Receives Nobel Prize On December 10th in Stockholm, Sweden, Professor Geoffrey E. Hinton, known as the "godfather of AI," was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, along with his colleague John Hopfield, an honorary professor at Princeton University. Their work is considered the foundation for Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Professor Hinton was specifically praised by Ellen Moons, the Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, as "a leading figure in developing efficient algorithms."

"He pioneered the effort to establish deep and dense neural networks. These networks are effective at classifying and interpreting large amounts of data and can improve themselves based on the accuracy of their results," Ellen Moons explained during the award ceremony. Today, artificial neural networks have become powerful tools across various research fields including physics, chemistry, and medicine, as well as in everyday life. These networks have transformed the way we process information and have led to significant breakthroughs in artificial intelligence technology.

Professor Hinton was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics because his physics research helped develop several foundations of machine learning and a branch of computer science. This work enabled AI to effectively mimic human behavior.

Notably, the research that earned Professor Hinton the Nobel Prize was completed in the 1980s, when the concept of AI was far less developed than it is today.

"This is an achievement from 50 years ago. We proposed an idea about a problem that needed solving and pursued that idea, even though most people in AI and computer science said what we were doing was meaningless," Professor Hinton shared.

His persistence and breakthrough in scientific research led to the creation of the Boltzmann machine learning framework, which can "learn" from examples rather than instructions. Moreover, once trained, it can recognize familiar patterns in information, even when encountering previously unseen data.

The 77-year-old professor spent decades teaching computer science at the University of Toronto (Canada) while simultaneously working with the deep learning AI team at Google (USA) before announcing his resignation in 2023.

His work has transformed our understanding of machine learning and artificial intelligence, proving that sometimes the most groundbreaking discoveries come from pursuing ideas that others initially dismiss. The Boltzmann machine learning framework he developed has become a cornerstone of modern AI systems, demonstrating how theoretical physics concepts can be applied to create practical tools for information processing and pattern recognition.

He emphasized that leaving Google was to share more openly about the dangers of AI, including bias and discrimination. These dangers also include fake news, unemployment, automated lethal weapons, and even the potential end of humanity.

Professor Hinton explained that priority should be given to finding protective measures for this technology. "I should have thought about safety issues earlier. I always believed that AI was still far away - meaning AI couldn't be as intelligent as humans. And now, I think this gap has become much smaller," Professor Hinton shared.

At VinFuture 2024, the contributions of Professor Geoffrey E. Hinton along with Professor Yoshua Bengio, Mr. Jen-Hsun Huang, Professor Yann LeCun, and Professor Fei-Fei Li in the field of deep learning were honored with the main prize, worth 3 million USD (more than 76 billion VND).

Professor Geoffrey E. Hinton is also the fifth scientist to receive both the VinFuture Prize and the Nobel Prize. This achievement highlights the pioneering vision of the first international science and technology prize initiated by Vietnamese people in recognizing and honoring inventions that have profound impacts on humanity. The prize has established its mark in the international scientific community after just 4 years of operation.

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Source: dantri.com.vn, 11/Dec/2024
Original article: 'Chủ nhân giải VinFuture nhận Giải thưởng Nobel Vật lý 2024'
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