In a historic ceremony on Dec. 10 at Stockholm’s Live performance Corridor, Geoffrey Hinton, the British-Canadian scientist often known as one of many “godfathers” of synthetic intelligence (AI), was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics. He shared the distinguished accolade with Princeton College’s John Hopfield for his or her foundational work in synthetic neural networks, a key improvement within the area of machine studying (ML).
In his acceptance speech, Hinton, as he has usually prior to now, warned concerning the misuse of AI to hurt society. “The speedy progress in AI comes with many short-term dangers. It has already created divisive echo chambers by providing folks content material that makes them indignant. It’s already being utilized by authoritarian governments for enormous surveillance and by cyber criminals for phishing assaults. Within the close to future, AI could also be used to create horrible new viruses and horrendous deadly weapons that determine by themselves who to kill or maim. All of those short-term dangers require pressing and forceful consideration from governments and worldwide organizations,” he warned.
Hinton’s journey to changing into a famend determine in synthetic intelligence (AI) started together with his educational basis within the late Nineteen Sixties. Born within the UK, he initially adopted a household custom and enrolled at Cambridge College.
Within the early Nineteen Seventies, Hinton moved to the College of Edinburgh to pursue a PhD in AI, regardless of the prevalent give attention to logic-based approaches to fixing issues. His curiosity on this area led him to the US after finishing his PhD, the place he labored as a postdoctoral researcher in San Diego with cognitive psychologists exploring neural networks.
Geoffrey Hinton, Backstage of Centre Stage throughout day two of Collision 2024 on the Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada. Photograph by Vaughn Ridley/Collision by way of Sportsfile. Used underneath the Inventive Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
In 1982, annoyed by the political local weather within the U.S. and the give attention to military-funded AI analysis, Hinton moved to Canada, the place he joined the Canadian Institute for Superior Analysis (CIFAR) and the College of Toronto. In Canada, he helped construct a program centered on neural networks and deep studying. His work in Toronto paved the best way for groundbreaking advances in AI, as he and his staff developed and refined deep studying methods that may finally result in important strides in machine studying and AI analysis.
He continues to emphasize the necessity for worldwide cooperation and oversight to mitigate potential hurt. “If the advantages of the elevated productiveness [from AI] could be shared equally, will probably be an exquisite advance for all humanity,” Hinton mentioned in his speech, emphasising the necessity for moral pointers in AI improvement.
Hinton is at the moment a Professor Emeritus on the College of Toronto. He additionally serves as Chief Scientific Advisor on the Vector Institute for Synthetic Intelligence, a Toronto-based analysis institute centered on AI and machine studying.
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