The duo has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their significant breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

American John Hopfield and British-Canadian Geoffrey Hinton were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for their groundbreaking contributions to the development of artificial intelligence. The Nobel Committee recognized the pair "for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks."

Ellen Moons, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, stated at a press conference that these artificial neural networks have significantly advanced research in various physics fields, including particle physics, material science, and astrophysics. She also highlighted their integration into everyday life, such as in facial recognition and language translation.

While praising the potential of AI, Moons acknowledged the concerns surrounding its rapid advancement, emphasizing that "humans carry the responsibility for using this new technology in a safe and ethical way."

Hopfield, a 91-year-old professor at Princeton University, was recognized for creating "an associative memory that can store and reconstruct images and other types of patterns in data." The committee noted that Hinton, a 76-year-old professor at the University of Toronto, "invented a method that can autonomously identify properties in data, enabling tasks such as recognizing specific elements in images."

"I’m flabbergasted; I had no idea this would happen," Hinton said in a phone interview with reporters as the laureates were announced in Stockholm. He expressed his enthusiasm for using AI tools like ChatGPT, but also voiced concerns about the potential consequences of the technology he helped develop. "In the same circumstances, I would do the same again, but I worry that the overall outcome might lead to systems more intelligent than us that could eventually take control," he added.

The Nobel Prize in Physics marks the second award of the season, following the Medicine Prize awarded on Monday to American scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its role in gene regulation.

Established in 1901, the Nobel Prizes honor individuals who have "conferred the greatest benefit on humankind," according to the words of prize creator Alfred Nobel. Last year, the Physics Prize went to Pierre Agostini from France, Ferenc Krausz from Hungary-Austria, and Franco-Swede Anne L'Huillier for their work using ultra-fast light flashes to study electrons within atoms and molecules.

The Chemistry Prize will be announced on Wednesday, followed by the Literature and Peace Prizes on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The economics prize will conclude the 2024 Nobel season on October 14.

The winners will receive their awards—a diploma, a gold medal, and a $1 million cheque—from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.