'Godfather of AI' accepting Nobel Prize brings pride to the University of Toronto

The University of Toronto hosted a watch party to celebrate renowned computer scientist, Geoffrey Hinton, accept the 2024 Nobel Prize for physics in Sweden on Tuesday.

Hinton is a professor emeritus at U of T, but he is also known as the godfather of artificial intelligence.

Dozens of students, faculty and staff gathered at the Schwartz Reisman Innovation campus downtown to take in the live stream together.

When the British-Canadian professor received his medal, people in the atrium cheered and applauded.

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"A Nobel is (a) particularly rare, momentous occasion. We're especially proud and jubilant about it," Timothy Chan, vice provost of strategic initiatives, said. "I think Geoffrey Hinton is a superstar and he's a celebrity here for sure."

The university said the event was a chance to show off Toronto talent and share the joy with the community.

"His work that leads to the foundations of modern AI, it really touches on all facets of society, if you have a smartphone, if you watch Netflix, if you buy a product on Amazon, you are influenced whether you know it or not by AI somehow, and his work has enabled a lot of it," Chan said. "And he's also a really funny guy. He's great to talk to. He's got a great sense of British humour."

Ryan Hoffman and James Wang, roommates and fourth-year university students, attended the watch party together as they're both interested in AI within their chosen fields. For them, seeing Hinton accept the prize was a special moment.

"It's definitely a thing of pride and respect what he's done for the university, and it's also an amazing feeling clapping and celebrating with other students, professors and community at large," said Hoffman, who is studying public health.

"To realize that someone who's actively in our community, who's actively contributing to our student welfare achieve such greatness, it's truly inspiring. It makes me, at least, want to do more and contribute more," said Wang, who is studying political science and philosophy.

It was a special event, too, for people who have crossed paths with Hinton over the years. Now a professor, Joseph Jay Williams said Hinton pointed him in the right direction in his career.

"And so, I think we need to take this excitement and not only pat ourselves on the back, how to do you, everyone of us, do something to help us win a Nobel," he said.