Stockholm, 8 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to US scientist John Hopfield and British-Canadian researcher Geoffrey Hinton for their work in the field of machine learning, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Tuesday.

The scientists "used fundamental concepts from statistical physics to design artificial neural networks that function as associative memories and find patterns in large data sets," said Ellen Moons, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

Machine learning had "become part of our daily lives for instance in facial recognition and language translation," Moons said.

The pair's work created the "building blocks of machine learning that can aid humans in making faster and more reliable decisions."

She noted however that the rapid advance in machine learning had raised "concerns about our future" as humans, and about the ethical use of the technology.

Last year, the academy awarded the prestigious prize to three researchers, Pierro Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier for their experiments that "have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules."

The prizes themselves are due to be handed over on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel (1833-96), inventor of dynamite and benefactor of the prizes.

Photo: MIA archive