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?

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

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

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

Have you ever lied to your family? What were the circumstances?

When he's standing, in front of you

My 11 million SEK, Dr Jo.

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

Are there girls here who like group sex?

"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?"

^† They rationalise their decision thusly:

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

Climate Disasters Hit the Brain Before Babies Are Even Born, Study Suggests - Gizmodo

[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."

Whatever.

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

Why do I sweat between my legs all the time, top off my legs, all way down?

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.

Why wait any longer for the world to begin?

Why wait any longer for the one you love?

Why do some straight men enjoy wearing women's lingerie?

(Bob Dylan, Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016)

(Mumbles of assent)

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

If you were to bet, will Canada bend over to Trump's America demands or remain inflexible until the last day of his Presidency on January 20, 2029? Will America or Canada win this geopolitical arm-wrestling? I'm rooting for America.

[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).

You can have your cake and eat it too

Are today’s baseball pitchers faster than a few years ago, or is it that radar guns have improved and get the pitch speed as it is released rather than as it reaches the plate?

Whatever.

[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.

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

How should one handle a situation where they suspect their partner of cheating, but their partner denies it and claims it is all in their head?

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

There you go.^†

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:

Tom Hanks finally breaks his silence on daughter’s bombshell memoir: ‘Not surprised’ - New York Post