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Nobel Winner Halzen Praises Early AI Use in Physics
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In Short: Antonio Zoccoli, president of Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics, praised the Nobel announcement as a clear recognition of the importance of fundamental research for understanding our nature and origins.
Halzen, 82, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, highlighted his 1991 paper proposing the use of AI to analyze data from a classical physics experiment. He noted that neural networks were initially used occasionally but became more powerful in recent years.
"When you look at the sky normally, you see the Milky Way. But when you look at the sky of neutrinos, you see other galaxies, you don't see the Milky Way," Halzen explained, emphasizing the unique insights provided by neutrino observations.
Halzen also mentioned that the IceCube observatory had 'solved a very interesting problem for the AI,' indicating the significant impact of AI on neutrino research.
Despite the recognition of fundamental research, Halzen acknowledged that funding issues make scientific research more challenging. However, he noted that universities are surviving.
Antonio Zoccoli, president of Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics, praised the Nobel announcement as a clear recognition of the importance of fundamental research for understanding our nature and origins.
Halzen joked about writing a proposal and hoped the Nobel announcement would help secure funding for it, adding a lighter moment to his visit.
What's still developing
- Halzen, 82, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was visiting the city of Turin in northern Italy and spoke to reporters there a day after the Nobel announcement.
- But he said he was the "wrong person" to talk about funding cuts since his observatory had been spared.
- "It was only after we used neural nets and machine learning techniques that we finally began to see the Milky Way in our data, which we now have extracted convincingly," he said.
- Photo by Marco Bertorello / AFP Turin, Italy: Nobel Prize for physics winner Francis Halzen spoke with pride on Wednesday about his early promotion of artificial intelligence in his research on neutrinos.
- Asked if he had always dreamt about winning the Nobel prize for physics, he said he preferred cycling as a child.
- Nobel Prize in Physics laureate and Belgian-American particle physicist Francis Halzen poses at the Rectorate of the University of Turin, in Turin, Italy, on October 7, 2026.