On October 8, 2024, it was announced that John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks”. The decision stirred some controversy, as many questioned why AI research was recognized with a Nobel Prize in Physics. To delve into this topic, I organized a lecture with experts from my department, Aj. Thiparat Chotibut and Aj. Supanut Thanasilp, to discuss the Nobel Prize, its significance, and whether it was indeed a fitting award for physics.

The turnout was incredible—over 100 people joined us to learn more about this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, showing how deeply people are interested in the intersection of physics and AI in today’s world. We received some fantastic questions from the audience and wished we had more time, as there were many questions we couldn’t address due to time constraints.

The entire talk is now available on YouTube: เสวนาโนเบลฟิสิกส์ 2024: Hopfield Networks (Is it even physics?)