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Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
351–360 of 876 posts
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#352There's a long backlog of major achievements in physics that haven't gotten a Nobel Prize in Physics . Giving the prize to something that has essentially nothing to do with physics is just a slap in the face to the physics community.
> a slap in the face to the physics community The physics community could use a few more slaps in the face, according to many physicists.
Here's a resounding 'slap' delivered by one physicist to his peers:
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#353Earlier quoted context omitted.
The methods may be inspired by physics, but they have made no contribution to understanding physical laws or phenomena. It's mathematical/CS work. The connection to actual physical laws or phenomena is even more tenuous than the prize for exoplanets a few years ago. The Nobel prize physics committee has made itself a joke, and probably destroyed the credibility of the prize.
> but they have made no contribution to understanding physical laws or phenomena. Neural networks are used in tons of data pipelines for physics experiments, most notably with particle accelerators. The Nobel Prize is also occasionally awarded to engineers who develop tools that are important parts of experiments. 2018 for example was awarded for chirped pulse amplification, which is probably best known for being use…
The techniques highlighted in this prize are not really that useful for deep learning.
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#354Earlier quoted context omitted.
Feynman was a well-known proponent of AI and neural networks [1]. He even gave popular lectures on the subject [2]. He also claimed that replicating animal-like visual recognition abilities in machines would be Nobel-worthy; deep learning was certainoy a breakthrough in that. [1] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2209.00083 [2] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ipRvjS7q1DI
None of these arguments support giving a prize for this in this field for this reason. Feynman was also critical of the idea of the prize in general
Yeah he only accepted his because he thought it would be even more of a hassle not to, but it seems like he seriously considered rejecting it.
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#355Well, the easiest way to enter the ML field is to pivot from theoretical physics.
Geoffrey Hinton wins the Nobel prize in physics for giving physics postdocs more reasonable job market options
And as an ML engineer with a PhD in physics I can tell you that I am deeply grateful that I didn't have to go the postdoc route.
I know we are joking around here, but damn, just for that alone I'm happy that he got it.
For whether it is actually physics? That I'll leave for another discussion.
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#356Well they should have given it to the guy who discovered the famous equation e=mc2 + ai.. https://www.reddit.com/r/LinkedInLunatics/comments/13tbfqm/w...
So that means AI = 0
Perfect
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#357"This year’s laureates used tools from physics to construct methods that helped lay the foundation for today’s powerful machine learning." Does this mean if I'd use a deep understanding of birds to design way more aerodynamic airplanes, I could get the Nobel prize in physiology/medicine? Don't get me wrong, their work is probably prize worthy, but shouldn't the Nobel prize in physics be awarded for discoveries in the…
Plato: man is a featherless biped
The Society for Birdology now has the pleasure of jointly awarding posthumously Plato and Diogenes with the Distinguished Birdologist Award. Their findings on human anatomy used insights from birdology at critical points. Well done, lads!
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#358Earlier quoted context omitted.
> most significant advance since electrification I just don't see how this can be claimed at this point.
Well, society would collapse without computers so I think the description is apt. At best you could argue that they're the same phenomenon, but then you might equally well argue electrification is just the consequence of steam engines.
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Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#359Earlier quoted context omitted.
>What are computer scientists usually rewarded with? The Turing Award is considered by most to be the highest award in computer science.
Hinton already won a Turing award, so this Nobel just seems doubly absurd. I hope he turns it down, but it's a monetary prize too and it takes a lot of dedication to science to turn it down.
Isn’t he a socialist?
Re: Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton [pdf]
#360Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see this written a lot, and I don’t get it. What matters for an award is that people recognise it as a prestigious accolade. The economics prize, while not “official”, is still recognised by everyone in economics as the highest honour in the field. Who cares if it’s “official” or not? Awards and prizes derive their value from their social recognition, which it has a solid amount of, at the very least.
One could even argue it has all of the benefits and less of the dynamite scent.
Depends on how much you consider that particular odour offensive :)