Yay! John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton won the physics Nobel for their work on neural networks... work that ultimately led to modern-day machine learning.

Some of you are wondering why they got a *physics* Nobel.

In the 1980s, Hopfield invented the 'Hopfield network' based on how atomic spins interact in a chunk of solid matter. Each atom's spin makes it into a tiny magnet. Depending on the material, these spins may tend to line up, or point opposite to their neighbors, or interact in even more complicated ways. No matter what they do, at very low temperatures they tend to minimize energy.

A Hopfield network is a simulation of such a system that's been cleverly set up so that the spins store data, like images. When the Hopfield network is fed a distorted or incomplete image, it keeps updating the spins so that the energy decreases... and works its way toward the saved image that's most like the imperfect one it was fed with.

Later, Geoffrey Hinton and others generalized Hopfield's ideas and developed 'Boltzmann machines'. These exploit a discovery by the famous physicist Boltzmann!

Boltzmann realized that the probability that a chunk of matter in equilibrium has energy E is proportional to

exp(-E/kT)

where E is its energy, T is its temperature and k is a number now called Boltzmann's constant. When the temperature is low, this makes it overwhelmingly probable that the stuff will have low energy. But at higher temperatures this is less true. By exploiting this formula and cleverly adjusting the temperature, we can make neural networks do very useful things.

There's been a vast amount of work since then, refining these ideas. But it started with physics.

arstechnica.com/ai/2024/10/in-…

Smart TVs are like “a digital Trojan Horse” in people’s homes

48-page report urges FTC, FCC to investigate connected TV industry #data #harvesting.

Unprecedented tracking techniques aimed at pleasing advertisers have resulted in #connected #TVs (CTVs) being a "privacy nightmare," according to Jeffrey Chester, report co-author and CDD executive director, resulting in calls for stronger regulation.

The 48-page report, "How TV Watches Us: Commercial Surveillance in the Streaming Era"
cites Ars Technica, other news publications, trade publications, blog posts, and statements from big players in streaming
—from #Amazon to #NBCUniversal and #Tubi, to #LG, #Samsung, and #Vizio.

It provides a detailed overview of the various ways that streaming services and streaming hardware target viewers in newfound ways that the CDD argues pose severe #privacy #risks.

The nonprofit composed the report as part of efforts to encourage regulation.

Today, the CDD sent letters to the FTC, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), California attorney general, and California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), regarding its concerns.

arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/1…