This week’s awarding of Nobel Prizes in chemistry and physics to a small number of Google-affiliated artificial intelligence pioneers has sparked debate about the company’s research dominance and how advances in computing should be recognized.
Google has been at the forefront of AI research but has been forced on the defensive as it faces competitive pressure from Microsoft-backed OpenAI and increasing regulatory scrutiny from the US Department of Justice.
On Wednesday, Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google’s AI unit DeepMind, and his colleague John Jumper were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry, along with American biochemist David Baker, for their work decoding the structures of microscopic proteins.
Meanwhile, former Google researcher Geoffrey Hinton won the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday, along with American scientist John Hopfield, for earlier discoveries in machine learning that paved the way for the rise of AI.
Professor Dame Wendy Hall, a computer scientist and artificial intelligence adviser to the United Nations, said that while the work of the laureates deserved recognition, the lack of a Nobel Prize in mathematics or computer science had skewed the result.
“The Nobel Prize committee doesn’t want to miss out on this artificial intelligence thing, so it’s very creative of them to push Geoffrey down the physics route,” he said. “I would say they are both dubious, but nonetheless worthy of a Nobel Prize in terms of the science they have done. So how else are you going to reward them?”
Noah Giansiracusa, an associate professor of mathematics at Bentley University and author of “How Algorithms Create and Prevent Fake News,” also argued that Hinton’s victory was questionable.
“What he did was phenomenal, but was it physical? I don’t believe it. Even if there is inspiration in physics, they are not developing a new theory in physics or solving a long-standing problem in physics.”
More context: Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded to Hopfield and Hinton, pioneers of artificial intelligence
AI sector prevails over traditional scientific areas during Nobel awards
Regulators in the US are currently circling Google over a possible split, which could force it to divest parts of its business, such as its Chrome browser and Android operating system, which some argue allow it to maintain an illegal monopoly on online search. line.
Profits from its leadership position have allowed Google and other big tech companies to surpass traditional academia in publishing groundbreaking AI research.
Hinton himself expressed some regrets about his life’s work, leaving Google last year so he could speak freely about the dangers of AI and warning that computers could become smarter than people much sooner than expected.
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said: “I wish I had some kind of simple recipe that says if you do this, everything is going to be fine, but I don’t have that, particularly with respect to the existential threat of these things becoming get out of control and take control.”
When he left Google in 2023 over concerns about artificial intelligence, Hinton said the company itself acted very responsibly.
For some, this week’s Nobel prizes underscore how difficult it is becoming for traditional academia to compete. Giansiracusa said greater public investment in research was needed.
“A lot of big tech is not geared toward the next breakthrough in deep learning, but rather making money by powering chatbots or placing ads all over the Internet,” he said. “There are pockets of innovation, but much of it is very unscientific.”
With information from Reuters
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