Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/172849351647217284359333571728435931624.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash"/><span class="fr-inner"><em style="text-align:left">Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash</em></span></span></span>PARIS, France -- For long periods of its history, artificial intelligence has lurked in the hinterland of science, often unloved and unfunded -- but two Nobel prizes in one week suggest its time in the sunshine has finally arrived.</div><p>First on Tuesday, Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield won the <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/8/hopfield-hinton-win-2024-nobel-prize-in-physics-1821">physics prize</a> for their pioneering work in creating the foundations of modern AI.</p><p>Then on Wednesday, David Baker, John Jumper and Demis Hassabis shared the <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/9/trio-wins-chemistry-nobel-for-protein-design-prediction-1925">chemistry prize</a> for work revealing the secrets of proteins through AI.</p><p>While the trio had been among the favorites for the chemistry prize, the physics one was unexpected.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m flabbergasted,&quot; said Hinton when he was told of the prize. &quot;I had no idea this would happen. I&#x27;m very surprised.&quot;</p><p>He wasn&#x27;t the only one.</p><p>Online commentators wondered why a computer scientist was getting a physics prize.</p><p>And with programs such as OpenAI&#x27;s ChatGPT dominating the cultural conversation around AI, for many the idea that such a technology could be worthy of such an award seemed bizarre.</p><div><strong>- &#x27;AI winter&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SdxOouXsaxc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>But for scientists the news was not so surprising.</p><p>&quot;AI&#x27;s role in transforming how we do science cannot be underestimated,&quot; Elena Simperl, a professor at King&#x27;s College London&#x27;s informatics department, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;The Nobel prize news recognises this, while also acknowledging the role interdisciplinary methods play in advancing computing.&quot;</p><p>The science now bundled together as artificial intelligence has a long history, emerging in the 1950s and 60s with rudimentary chatbots, translation machines and simple algorithms.</p><p>But many of the early experiments failed to take off and researchers struggled to get funding, particularly during the 1970s and the 1990s, periods known as &quot;AI winters&quot;.</p><p>Before the latest explosion of interest prompted by ChatGPT in 2022, AI had only had a handful of moments when it pierced the public imagination.</p><p>In 2016, a program called AlphaGo created by Hassabis&#x27;s DeepMind beat South Korean grandmaster Lee Se-Dol at the game Go.</p><p>It came almost a decade after the IBM-developed supercomputer Deep Blue beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov.</p><p>In his acceptance speech, Hassabis flagged that there was a direct line between AlphaGo and AlphaFold, the program that won them the Nobel for predicting protein structures.</p><p>&quot;We used games in the early part of DeepMind to train as a proving ground for our early algorithms that then led to some of the techniques we eventually use in our modern programs,&quot; he said.</p><p>And he encouraged children to play games, saying it was &quot;just a really fun way to get into the guts of how computers work&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/8/scientists-sound-ai-alarm-after-winning-physics-nobel-750">READ: Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/10/9/winner-of-nobel-prize-in-physics-warns-of-ai-dangers-1049">WATCH: Winner of Nobel prize in physics warns of AI dangers</a></div><div><strong>- New Nobels needed? -</strong></div><p>Simperl said that, far from it being problematic to see AI pioneers being rewarded by the Nobels, it should be encouraged.</p><p>&quot;Maybe it&#x27;s time for this to be recognised with a new Nobel prize category,&quot; she said.</p><p>She added that disciplines like software engineering and cybersecurity also deserved recognition for their contributions to society.</p><p>&quot;There is no issue in my mind with an AI scientist being recognised in a Nobel prize scientific category,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;This is merely an acknowledgement of how modern science works today.&quot;</p><p>Outside the science community, the conversation continues to be dominated by the astronomical valuations of AI companies and the outsize cultural influence of some of their leaders.</p><p>After Wednesday&#x27;s prize was announced, online memes quickly emerged suggesting Sam Altman, boss of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, could be next in line.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s not done yet,&quot; Sean O&#x27;Heigeartaigh, director of the AI: Futures and Responsibility Programme at the University of Cambridge, wrote on the social media platform X.</p><p>&quot;Hearing reports that the Nobel prize for literature will be going to the authors of &#x27;OpenAI&#x27;s nonprofit governance structure&#x27; for outstanding contributions to creative fiction.&quot;</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>For long periods of its history, artificial intelligence has lurked in the hinterland of science, often unloved and unfunded -- but two Nobel prizes in one week suggest its time in the sunshine has finally arrived.</p>

For long periods of its history, artificial intelligence has lurked in the hinterland of science, often unloved and unfunded -- but two Nobel prizes in one week suggest its time in the sunshine has finally arrived.

AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins | ABS-CBN

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AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins

AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins

Agence France-Presse,

Joseph Boyle

Published Oct 10, 2024 01:54 AM PHT

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