Renowned physicist Geoffrey Hinton, who recently won the Nobel Prize in Physics alongside John Hopfield, is paying it forward by establishing a new award for young machine learning researchers. Hinton, known as the “Godfather of A.I.,” received a cash award of 11 million Swedish krona ($1 million) for his groundbreaking contributions to artificial intelligence.
In a generous move, Hinton has decided to allocate $500,000 of his prize money to create the Sejnowski-Hinton Prize, an annual award of $10,000 that will recognize innovative collaborations between researchers under the age of 40 who are exploring theories on how the human brain functions. The prize is named after Hinton and Terry Sejnowski, a computational neuroscientist with whom Hinton collaborated on the Boltzmann machine.
Hinton’s philanthropic efforts don’t stop there. He plans to donate the remainder of his Nobel Prize winnings to charitable causes. Half of the prize money will support Water First, a Canadian nonprofit focused on addressing drinking water challenges in indigenous communities, while the other half will go towards a charity that helps neurodiverse young adults find employment opportunities.
As a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, Hinton has been a strong advocate for increased safety regulations in A.I. technologies. His decision to donate an early Boltzmann chip to the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm demonstrates his commitment to advancing the field of artificial intelligence.
Through his generous actions, Hinton is not only supporting the next generation of researchers but also making a meaningful impact on society. By creating opportunities for young scientists and contributing to important causes, Hinton is leaving a lasting legacy in the world of artificial intelligence.
