A Nobel Prize-powered gift from Geoffrey Hinton is boosting a Canadian water charity

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This article was published 10/12/2024 (344 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Canadian winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in physics is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars from his winnings into a small Ontario-based organization.

Geoffrey Hinton, a so-called godfather of artificial intelligence, is not boosting the latest tech startup or funding an initiative to counter the dangers of AI that he so often warns about.

He is instead helping a group focused on something more down to Earth: supporting Indigenous Peoples in accessing fresh water.

Sarah Jayne Kendall, community engagement director at Water First Education and Training Inc., said she is grateful to Hinton for the substantial donation — but also for the attention he is bringing to the organization’s work.

“It really speaks volumes to him being an individual who’s utilizing his platform to raise awareness and support for an ongoing issue that has been going on throughout this country,” she said.

About 13 per cent of First Nations communities in Canada are affected by a drinking water advisory. Water First says the proportion is 25 per cent in Ontario.

Kendall said Hinton himself reached out to the organization about his donation decision.

The emeritus professor of computer science at the University of Toronto won the Nobel Prize alongside John Hopfield, a professor at Princeton University, for their groundbreaking work on machine learning that paved the way for AI.

The two were named the winners in October and received the award at a ceremony on Tuesday.

Water First is expected to receive a $350,000 donation from Hinton, representing about half of his share of the prize winnings. An unnamed charity that supports neurodiverse young adults was also expected to get a boost from Hinton.

Kendall said her organization, based in Creemore, Ont., northwest of Toronto, will use the money to build capacity and expand operations across the country.

“This donation will really help us focus on how we can continue to extend our reach to any Indigenous communities who see value in our work,” she said.

The group’s drinking water programs, which focus on education and training, have so far been focused on Ontario communities. That work expanded to Manitoba this year, Kendall said. She added that the charity also runs environment-focused programs in Ontario and Quebec.

“Our organization is still a relatively small organization. We have grown considerably in the last few years. But this donation will go towards helping us expand our reach even further.”

Speaking at a press conference in October shortly after he won the prize, Hinton said he had initially planned to donate to an organization that provides safe drinking water in Africa.

He changed his mind, he said, after his partner suggested he support the same cause in Canada.

Hinton said it’s good to see more Canadians acknowledging Indigenous rights when it comes to land, but that does nothing to change the situation on the ground and address the problem of water-borne diseases: “It doesn’t stop the Indigenous kids getting diarrhea.”

He praised Water First for making a “much better, long-term investment” because it trains people on how to access clean drinking water rather than simply providing it.

“That seemed to me to be a good thing to do,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2024.

— With files from Tara Deschamps.