PRESS RELEASE
8 O ctober 2024
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2024
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2024 to
John J. Hopfield Geoffrey E. Hinton
Princeton University, NJ, USA University of Toronto, Canada
“for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning
with artificial neural networks”
They trained artificial neural networks using physics
This year’s two Nobel Laureates in Physics have images have low energy. When the Hopfield network
used tools from physics to develop methods that is fed a distorted or incomplete image, it methodically
are the foundation of today’s powerful machine works through the nodes and updates their values so
learning. John Hopfield created an associative the network’s energy falls. The network thus works
memory that can store and reconstruct images stepwise to find the saved image that is most like the
and other types of patterns in data. Geoffrey imperfect one it was fed with.
Hinton invented a method that can autonomously Geoffrey Hinton used the Hopfield network as the
find properties in data, and so perform tasks such foundation for a new network that uses a different
as identifying specific elements in pictures. method: the Boltzmann machine. This can learn to
When we talk about artificial intelligence, we often mean recognise characteristic elements in a given type of data.
machine learning using artificial neural networks. This Hinton used tools from statistical physics, the science
technology was originally inspired by the structure of of systems built from many similar components. The
the brain. In an artificial neural network, the brain’s machine is trained by feeding it examples that are very
neurons are represented by nodes that have different likely to arise when the machine is run. The Boltzmann
values. These nodes influence each other through con- machine can be used to classify images or create new
nections that can be likened to synapses and which can examples of the type of pattern on which it was trained.
be made stronger or weaker. The network is trained, Hinton has built upon this work, helping initiate the
for example by developing stronger connections current explosive development of machine learning.
between nodes with simultaneously high values. This “The laureates’ work has already been of the greatest
year’s laureates have conducted important work with benefit. In physics we use artificial neural networks in
artificial neural networks from the 1980s onward. a vast range of areas, such as developing new materials
John Hopfield invented a network that uses a method with specific properties,” says Ellen Moons, Chair of
for saving and recreating patterns. We can imagine the the Nobel Committee for Physics.
Nobel Prize® is a registered trademark of the Nobel Foundation.
nodes as pixels. The Hopfield network utilises physics
that describes a material’s characteristics due to its John J. Hopfield, born 1933 in Chicago, IL, USA. PhD 1958 from Cornell
atomic spin – a property that makes each atom a tiny University, Ithaca, NY, USA. Professor at Princeton University, NJ, USA.
magnet. The network as a whole is described in a Geoffrey E. Hinton, born 1947 in London, UK. PhD 1978 from The University
manner equivalent to the energy in the spin system of Edinburgh, UK. Professor at University of Toronto, Canada.
found in physics, and is trained by finding values for
the connections between the nodes so that the saved
Prize amount: 11 million Swedish kronor, to be shared equally between the laureates.
Further information: www.kva.se and www.nobelprize.org
Press contact: Eva Nevelius, Press Secretary, +46 70 878 67 63, [email protected]
Experts: Olle Eriksson, +46 18 471 36 25, [email protected] and Anders Irbäck, +46 46 222 34 93, [email protected],
members of the Nobel Committee for Physics.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, founded in 1739, is an independent organisation whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and
strengthen their influence in society. The Academy takes special responsibility for the natural sciences and mathematics, but endeavours to promote
the exchange of ideas between various disciplines.
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