Nobel Prize Winners Linked To Google Raises Concerns Over AI Research
The recent Nobel Prizes in Chemistry and Physics to Google-affiliated AI pioneers has sparked controversy, raising questions about Big Tech’s dominance over research and how breakthroughs in computer science need to be recognised.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics to former Google researcher Geoffrey Hinton and US scientist John Hopfield. The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google’s AI unit DeepMind, and colleague John Jumper alongside US biochemist David Baker.
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While Hassabis, Jumper, and Baker were awarded for their work decoding the structures of microscopic proteins, Hinton and Hopfield won for earlier discoveries in machine learning, which paved the way for the AI boom.
Noah Giansiracusa, associate Math professor at Bentley University, argued that Hinton’s win was questionable as they were not developing a new theory in Physics or solving a longstanding problem in the subject.
Professor Dame Wendy Hall, a computer scientist and advisor on AI to the United Nations stated that while the recipients’ work deserved recognition, the lack of a Nobel prize for subjects such as Mathematics or Computer science had distorted the outcome.
“The Nobel prize committee doesn’t want to miss out on this AI stuff, so it’s very creative of them to push Geoffrey through the physics route,” she said. “I would argue both are dubious, but nonetheless worthy of a Nobel prize in terms of the science they’ve done. So how else are you going to reward them?” he asked, as quoted by Reuters.
Regulators in the US are currently circling Google for a potential breakup, which could force it to divest its Chrome browser and Android operating system. Some argue that these allow the company to maintain an illegal monopoly in online search.
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The profits have allowed Big Tech firms like Google to leave behind traditional academia in publishing groundbreaking AI research.
Giansiracusa highlighted the need for greater public investment in research.
“So much of Big Tech is not oriented towards the next deep-learning breakthrough, but making money by pushing chatbots or putting ads all over the internet. There are pockets of innovation, but much of it is very unscientific,” he told Reuters.
