In early October, the Nobel Prizes for Physics and Chemistry were awarded to scientists in Northern California for their groundbreaking work utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in research. This recognition raises an intriguing question: Does this signify that scientists who lack access to AI tools from major tech companies might struggle to compete in the future?
According to an Associated Press report, Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer in AI, celebrated his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Physics on October 8 by driving to Google’s California headquarters in a rental car. Although Hinton no longer works at Google, his impromptu celebration marked a significant moment for AI, highlighting its ascent as a cornerstone of scientific achievement.
The following morning, on October 9, two employees from Google’s AI division were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their innovative work in predicting and designing novel proteins. Jeanette Wing, a professor of computer science at Columbia University, remarked, “This demonstrates the power of computer science and artificial intelligence.” When asked about the historic back-to-back awards for AI contributions, Hinton simply stated, “Neural networks are the future.”
Wing further emphasized, “Without immense computational power and vast amounts of data, these discoveries wouldn’t have been possible. Few companies possess such capability; Google is one of them, and Microsoft is another.” This raises concerns for scientists from less privileged backgrounds who may not have access to the same AI resources. Will they be at a significant disadvantage?
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper from Google’s London-based DeepMind lab, along with David Baker from the University of Washington, for their contributions to drug discovery. Google acquired DeepMind in 2014.
In an interview with the Associated Press, CEO Hassabis shared that his dream is to establish a research lab inspired by the “incredible legendary history” of Bell Labs.
However, Hinton expressed some reservations about the rapid advancement of AI. While at Google’s celebration, he voiced criticisms of AI giant OpenAI, stating, “OpenAI initially claimed its primary goal was to develop safe, human-level general AI. Over time, it has become evident that Sam Altman is more focused on profits than on safety, which I find unfortunate.”
