Geoffrey Hinton
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Hinton is a British
born informatician
most noted for his work on the mathematics and applications
of neural networks
, and their relationship to information theory
.
in Experimental Psychology, and from Edinburgh
in 1978, with a PhD
in Artificial Intelligence
. He has worked at Sussex
, UCSD, Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University
and University College London
. He was the founding director of the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London
, and is currently a professor
in the computer science department at the University of Toronto
. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning. He is the director of the program on "Neural Computation and Adaptive Perception" which is funded by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
An accessible introduction to Geoffrey Hinton's research can be found in his articles in Scientific American
in September 1992 and October 1993. He investigates ways of using neural networks for learning
, memory
, perception
and symbol
processing and has over 200 publications in these areas. He was one of the researchers who introduced the back-propagation algorithm
for training multi-layer neural networks that has been widely used for practical applications. He coinvented Boltzmann machine
s with Terry Sejnowski
. His other contributions to neural network research include distributed representations, time-delay neural networks, mixtures of experts, Helmholtz machines and Product of Experts
. His current main interest is in unsupervised learning
procedures for neural networks with rich sensory input.
. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998.
Hinton was the 2005 recipient of the IJCAI Award for Research Excellence
lifetime-achievement award.
He has also been awarded the 2011 Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
whose work eventually became one of the foundations of modern computer science, and of surgeon and author James Hinton http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/111F04/boole.html.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
born informatician
Informatics (academic field)
Informatics is the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. Informatics studies the structure, algorithms, behavior, and interactions of natural and artificial systems that store, process, access and communicate information...
most noted for his work on the mathematics and applications
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...
of neural networks
Neural Networks
Neural Networks is the official journal of the three oldest societies dedicated to research in neural networks: International Neural Network Society, European Neural Network Society and Japanese Neural Network Society, published by Elsevier...
, and their relationship to information theory
Information theory
Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and...
.
Career
Hinton graduated from Cambridge in 1970, with a Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Experimental Psychology, and from Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
in 1978, with a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. He has worked at Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
, UCSD, Cambridge, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
and University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He was the founding director of the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, and is currently a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in the computer science department at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning. He is the director of the program on "Neural Computation and Adaptive Perception" which is funded by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
An accessible introduction to Geoffrey Hinton's research can be found in his articles in Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
in September 1992 and October 1993. He investigates ways of using neural networks for learning
Learning
Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...
, memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
, perception
Perception
Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs...
and symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
processing and has over 200 publications in these areas. He was one of the researchers who introduced the back-propagation algorithm
Backpropagation
Backpropagation is a common method of teaching artificial neural networks how to perform a given task. Arthur E. Bryson and Yu-Chi Ho described it as a multi-stage dynamic system optimization method in 1969 . It wasn't until 1974 and later, when applied in the context of neural networks and...
for training multi-layer neural networks that has been widely used for practical applications. He coinvented Boltzmann machine
Boltzmann machine
A Boltzmann machine is a type of stochastic recurrent neural network invented by Geoffrey Hinton and Terry Sejnowski. Boltzmann machines can be seen as the stochastic, generative counterpart of Hopfield nets...
s with Terry Sejnowski
Terry Sejnowski
Terrence Joseph Sejnowski is an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and is the Francis Crick Professor at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies where he directs the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory...
. His other contributions to neural network research include distributed representations, time-delay neural networks, mixtures of experts, Helmholtz machines and Product of Experts
Product of Experts
Product of Experts is a machine learning technique. It models a probability distribution by combining the output from several simpler distributions.It was proposed by Geoff Hinton, along with an algorithm for training the parameters of such a system....
. His current main interest is in unsupervised learning
Unsupervised learning
In machine learning, unsupervised learning refers to the problem of trying to find hidden structure in unlabeled data. Since the examples given to the learner are unlabeled, there is no error or reward signal to evaluate a potential solution...
procedures for neural networks with rich sensory input.
Honours and Awards
Hinton was the first winner of the David E. Rumelhart PrizeRumelhart Prize
The David E. Rumelhart Prize for Contributions to the Theoretical Foundations of Human Cognition was founded in 2001 in honor of the celebrated cognitive scientist David Rumelhart. The annual award is presented at the Cognitive Science Society meeting, where the recipient gives a lecture and...
. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998.
Hinton was the 2005 recipient of the IJCAI Award for Research Excellence
IJCAI Award for Research Excellence
The IJCAI Award for Research Excellence is a biannual award given at the IJCAI conference to researcher in artificial intelligence as a recognition of excellence of their career...
lifetime-achievement award.
He has also been awarded the 2011 Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
Trivia
Hinton is the great-great-grandson of logician George BooleGeorge Boole
George Boole was an English mathematician and philosopher.As the inventor of Boolean logic—the basis of modern digital computer logic—Boole is regarded in hindsight as a founder of the field of computer science. Boole said,...
whose work eventually became one of the foundations of modern computer science, and of surgeon and author James Hinton http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/111F04/boole.html.
External links
- Geoffrey E. Hinton's Publications in Reverse Chronological Order
- Homepage (at UofT)
- http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~hinton/absps/fullcv.pdf Full CV
- Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit (founding director)
- http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Boltzmann_Machine Encyclopedia article on Boltzmann Machines written by Geoffrey Hinton for Scholarpedia.