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?

(Mumbles of assent)

When he's standing, in front of you

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

Have you had any paranormal activity situations happen personally to you or someone you know?

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

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

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Have you ever regretted not hitting on a older women?

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

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

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

Scoop: Nike names Michael Gonda as chief communications officer - Axios

[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.

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

How many women have accidentally pooped their pants and became turned on afterwards?

Whatever.

There you go.^†

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Why does my sister want to have sex with me? What should I do?

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

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

[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."

Mark Hamill Say Carrie Fisher Told Him to Embrace His Star Wars Fame - Variety

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

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

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:

First-ever airborne toxin detected in Western Hemisphere - Phys.org

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

"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?"

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.

What do people with very high IQs do all day?

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

You can have your cake and eat it too

Whatever.

Turning the Red Planet green? It's time to take terraforming Mars seriously, scientists say - Space