Google’s recent sweep of Nobel prizes in chemistry and physics has ignited a discussion about the company’s dominance in artificial intelligence research and how advances in computer science should be honored.
This week, Nobel awards went to several AI pioneers linked to Google, a company that has consistently led the AI frontier but now faces intense competition from Microsoft-backed OpenAI and heightened scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice.
On Wednesday, Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google’s AI division DeepMind, and his colleague John Jumper were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with American biochemist David Baker. Their breakthrough involved decoding the structures of microscopic proteins, a significant contribution to both biology and AI.
Earlier, former Google researcher Geoffrey Hinton received the Nobel Prize in Physics, sharing the honor with American scientist John Hopfield. Hinton’s foundational work in machine learning laid the groundwork for today’s AI revolution.
While the achievements have been widely celebrated, some in the academic community question whether these contributions fit within traditional Nobel categories. Professor Dame Wendy Hall, a computer scientist and AI advisor to the United Nations, noted that the absence of Nobel categories for mathematics or computer science has led to unexpected placements in chemistry and physics.
“The Nobel committee doesn’t want to miss out on AI, so they creatively pushed Geoffrey through the physics category,” she said. “While both prizes are deserved, the categorization is debatable. But without a Nobel in math or computer science, how else can we recognize these achievements?”
Noah Giansiracusa, associate professor of mathematics at Bentley University, also expressed skepticism about Hinton’s win in physics. “Hinton’s contributions are remarkable, but are they physics? I don’t believe so. Even if inspired by physics, it’s not like they solved a longstanding physics problem or developed a new theory.”
The Nobel categories, which include medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, and peace, were established by Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will, with economics added in 1968 through a grant from Sweden’s central bank.
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