In early October, the Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry were awarded to scientists in Northern California who have leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) in their research. This recognition has sparked a conversation about whether scientists lacking access to AI tools will struggle to compete in the future.
On October 8, AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton learned that he had received the Nobel Prize in Physics, and he celebrated by driving a rental car to Google’s headquarters in California. Although Hinton is no longer employed by Google, his impromptu celebration underscores the emergence of AI as a “commercial powerhouse,” reaching a significant milestone in the scientific community.
The following morning, two employees from Google’s AI division were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in predicting and designing novel proteins. Jeanette Wing, a professor of computer science at Columbia University, stated, “This demonstrates the power of computer science and artificial intelligence.” When asked about the historical significance of AI winning back-to-back prestigious awards, Hinton simply remarked, “Neural networks are the future.”
Wing emphasized that such discoveries and capabilities would not have been possible without significant computational power and vast amounts of data. “Very few companies possess this kind of computational capacity; Google is one of them, and Microsoft is another.” This raises the question: Will scientists without the resources of major tech companies find themselves at a disadvantage?
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Demis Hassabis and John Jumper from Google’s DeepMind lab in London, alongside researcher David Baker from the University of Washington. Their work has significantly contributed to the invention of new drugs. Google acquired DeepMind in 2014.
Hassabis shared in an interview with the Associated Press that he dreams of establishing his own research lab inspired by the “incredible legendary history” of Bell Labs.
However, Hinton doesn’t fully endorse the current trajectory of AI advancements. During the celebration at Google, he expressed criticism towards AI giant OpenAI. He noted, “OpenAI initially claimed that its main goal was to develop better general AI than humans and ensure its safety. However, over time, it has become apparent that Sam Altman is more concerned with profits than safety, which I believe is unfortunate.”