They are awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics

The two scientists John J Hopfield and Geoffrey E Hinton are awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics. They are praised for their discoveries and inventions in machine learning and artificial neural networks.

The justification from the Swedish Academy of Sciences reads: “For fundamental discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”.

Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton is awarded for his research into the artificial neural networks that enable today’s AI technology. He himself has also warned about how the technology can be used.

Last year, Lund University won its first Nobel Prize, when Swedish-French Anne L’Huillier was one of the three prize winners.

Historically, the physics prize has usually gone to a nuclear or particle scientist, followed by physicists dealing with condensed matter physics. In recent years, however, space, quantum and optical physics have been widely praised, according to a review by Scientific American.