The so-called ‘Godfather of Deep Learning’ Geoffrey Hinton has been appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada.
In a statement, Governor General Julie Payette said she appointed Hinton as a result of his contributions to artificial intelligence, “as a computer scientist and specialist in cognitive psychology.”
Hinton also holds a Canada Research Chair in machine learning, and is an advisor at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
Hinton was born in Wimbledon, London, and holds a bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology from the University of Cambridge, as well as a PhD in artificial intelligence from the University of Edinburgh.
Following stints at institutions like the University of California, San Diego and Carnegie Mellon University, Hinton moved to Canada partly due to his disappointment with U.S. politics.
In addition to having worked for Mountain View search giant Google since 2013, Hinton is also a professor in the department of computer science at the University of Toronto, and the Chief Scientific Advisor at the Vector Institute. Hinton also holds a Canada Research Chair in machine learning, and is an advisor at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
In November 2017, Hinton was one of five leaders of Canada’s AI research community to write an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking the Canadian government to take a stand against weaponizing AI.
This article was originally published on MobileSyrup.