This year’s Nobel physics laureate has praised artificial intelligence for transforming his field. Halzen, whose IceCube observatory studies neutrinos, said machine learning solved “a very interesting problem for AI”. The prize was announced on October 7.

Neutrinos are rare subatomic particles streaming in from the distant cosmos. “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 said.

“It was only after we used neural nets and machine learning techniques that we finally began to see the Milky Way in our data,” he added. He called the Nobel announcement clear recognition of the importance of fundamental research.

Halzen noted that “doing science is more difficult” now because of funding pressures. His observatory, backed by about $250 million from the US National Science Foundation, was spared the cuts.

Asked if he had always dreamed of the prize, he joked that as a Belgian child he wanted to win the Tour de France. The prize highlights how AI is becoming a core tool of discovery.