News of Geoffrey Hinton's Nobel Prize in Physics travelled around the globe yesterday, making international headlines for the British-Canadian scientist known as the "godfather of AI."
A University Professor Emeritus of computer science at the University of Toronto, Hinton won the prize jointly with Princeton's John J. Hopfield for early discoveries and inventions in the realm of physics that laid the groundwork for today's artificial intelligence boom.
Hinton told The New York Times he was, "shocked and amazed and flabbergasted. I never expected it."
After receiving the call from Stockholm in the wee hours, Hinton, who was in California, spent much of the day attending press conferences and speaking with reporters from a "cheap hotel room with no internet," even oscillating mid-interview between the Times and the BBC.
Nevertheless, he seized the moment to emphasize both the promise and pitfalls of AI-based technologies.
"It's going to be like the Industrial Revolution - but instead of our physical capabilities, it's going to exceed our intellectual capabilities," he told the BBC. "… but I worry that the overall consequences of this might be systems that are more intelligent than us that might eventually take control."
Independent UK acknowledged the unusual nature of Hinton's win in the physics category.
"I'm not a physicist, I have very high respect for physics," Hinton said. "I dropped out of physics after my first year at university because I couldn't do the complicated math. So, getting an award in physics was very surprising to me. I'm very pleased that the Nobel committee recognised that there's been huge progress in the area of artificial neural networks."
Closer to home, Hinton's award was lauded in the national media, from CBC: The National - which highlighted his emphasis on the importance of supporting curiosity-driven research and his role in training many of today's AI leaders - to the front pages of The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.
"I want to emphasize that AI is going to do tremendous good," Hinton told the Globe after receiving the news about the win. "In areas like health care, it's going to be amazing. That's why its development is never going to be stopped. The real question is can we keep it safe?"
