How did a computer scientist such as Geoffrey Hinton manage to win a Nobel Prize in physics when computer science already has its own Nobel Prize equivalent in the Turing Awards?

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

You can have your cake and eat it too

When he's standing, in front of you

Why do I want to suck cock, after smoking methamphetamine?

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

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

[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.

Why did the USA stick their noses in Ukraine's business? They wanted to be neutral for so long.

There you go.^†

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.

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

Hundreds of flights cancelled, more expected as Atlanta airport recovers from severe weather amid holiday travel rush - CNN

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

"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?"

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:

Brian Daly Named Director of Division of Investment Management - SEC.gov

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

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

Whatever.

Remarks at the Crypto Task Force Roundtable on Decentralized Finance - SEC.gov

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

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

Earth’s Energy Imbalance Is Growing at Terrifying Rates—Scientists Are Sounding the Alarm! - The Daily Galaxy

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

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Whatever.

Robots run out of energy long before they run out of work to do − feeding them could change that - The Conversation

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

[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."

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

Chase Briscoe vs. Noah Gragson: A matchup between close friends - NASCAR.com

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

(Mumbles of assent)

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

Sun unleashes monster solar storm: Rare G4 alert issued for earth - ScienceDaily