AI Pioneers Who Channeled 'Hedonistic' Machines Win Computer Science's Top Prize
Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton were awarded the 2025 A.M. Turing Award for their pioneering work in reinforcement learning, which helped shape modern AI systems like AlphaGo and ChatGPT while offering contrasting views on AI risk.
Published on March 29, 2025
On March 5, 2025, the A.M. Turing Award was presented to Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton for their groundbreaking work in reinforcement learning. Their pioneering research, which began in the late 1970s and drew inspiration from psychology and neuroscience, has indelibly shaped modern AI, contributing to advances that powered systems like Google’s AlphaGo and tools such as ChatGPT.
Despite initial underappreciation, their work has now been recognized as foundational. The annual $1 million prize, sponsored by Google, celebrates not only their technical achievements but also highlights their differing views on modern AI: with Barto urging caution and Sutton expressing optimism about the technology's potential.