How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage...

… then anything is possible. There’s no rule that a Nobel Prize has to make sense.^*

"Where can we shoehorn it in? Chemistry is easy 'cos AlphaFold; but what about physics? A bit more challenging, right?"

In awarding prizes, the Nobel Committees often seem only marginally more competent than MTG is at explaining meteorology. And if they can give a literature prize for lyrics like:

Why are people outraged over Latina actress, Rachel Zegler, being cast to play Snow White in the live action remake of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?

[Younger voice] "But wait a minute, Ising-Lenz goes back to the 1920's. And didn't Hinton plagiarise rather a lot? He also didn't invent modern backprop, did he, that's Linnainmaa? And Amari preceded Hopfield, too. That's not a good look."

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

‘Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact’ Review: An Education in Exoplanets - WSJ

When he's standing, in front of you

In December 1973, when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, comedian Tom Lehrer dropped his mic and stamped on it—satire had just died.

"Didn't he do something with Boltzmann in it? That sounds physics-y. RBMs and stuff, eh?"

Cisco Powers Secure Infrastructure for the AI Era - Cisco Newsroom

(Mumbles of assent)

[Older voice] "Mmm. What about Hinton, he's widely regarded? Nobody got fired for buying IBM"

"Naah, Linnainmaa is a Finn. Can't give it to a bloody Finnish mathematician. Let's go for drinks. Brännvin anyone?"

Austria’s deadliest mass shooting: Who are the Graz victims, shooter? - Al Jazeera

"Good point, I'm sure we can swing it. And let's tack on Hopfield while we're about it."

There you go.^†

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

What would happen if Trump and Putin make a Ukraine peace deal without Ukraine's consent?

"Hey guys, AI is pretty big so let's centre our prizes on it this year. We can get some attention, and it's all about advertising, at the end of the day, isn't it?"

[The basic structure of artificial neural networks] has close similarities with spin models in statistical physics applied to magnetism or alloy theory. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics recognizes research exploiting this connection to make breakthrough methodological advances in the field of ANN.

Whatever.

4 ways the Desmond Bane trade could affect the Celtics - Boston.com

"Good idea, but how can we wangle something that says 'Physics'?"

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

A fly on the wall at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

2025 NHL Draft Combine Notebook: What we learned - Daily Faceoff

Whatever.

Fortunately, we are privy to the discussion that led up to this:

^* Fibiger got the 1926 Medicine prize for the discovery of Spiroptera carcinoma (Don’t ask).

Global Investors Suddenly Have a New Concern: A U.S. ‘Revenge Tax’ - WSJ

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

They then move on to selectively provide their own version of history. But hey, it’s OK. They wanted controversy, didn’t they? Whatever.