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?

[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.

"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?"

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

Scientists find a boulder weighing 2,645,547 pounds that was washed inland by an enormous tsunami - Earth.com

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.

You can have your cake and eat it too

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

New Research Reveals the Brain Learns Differently Than We Thought - SciTechDaily

There you go.^†

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

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

If you cloned 12 Michael Jordan's and 12 LeBron James' and had Team Jordan vs. James, which team would win the most games?

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

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

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Satellite measures river flow waves for the first time - The Washington Post

Whatever.

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

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

What is your review of X-Men '97 season 1?

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

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

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

How do you respond to "I don't like you anymore"?

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

Whatever.

(Mumbles of assent)

Why do men like low maintenance women?

[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."

When he's standing, in front of you

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

If you're quitting a job or anticipating layoffs, don't burn your bridges at work. Boomerang hires are increasing. - Business Insider

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

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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:

Circle’s buzzy IPO was a big hit. Now comes the hard part. - MarketWatch