His Excellency Dr. Esam Alwagait, Director of the National Information Center of the Saudi Authority for Data and Artificial Intelligence (SDAIA), honored the winners of the first International Artificial Intelligence Olympiad. The event was organized by SDAIA in collaboration with the International Center for Research and Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (ICAIRE) and the International Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) under the auspices of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
SE Dr. Alwagait presented medals and honors to the winners on the third day of the Global AI Summit, which concluded today. In total, 8 students received a gold medal, 16 a silver medal and 20 a bronze medal. The award-winning students expressed their great joy and emphasized that the victory encourages them to further develop their talents in areas of artificial intelligence. They also expressed their hope for future opportunities to contribute to the advancement of AI and its potential to benefit humanity.
Over three days, students competed individually in the AI Olympiad tests, with each country represented by a team of up to four students. On the first day, students conducted science tests for five hours. On the second day, they completed experimental tests in which they developed solutions to scientific problems using AI techniques on a specially designed platform. On the third day, the participants took part in practical tests in which the winners were determined. On the last day of the summit, prizes and medals were awarded to the winners, concluding the world’s first AI Olympics.
The Olympiad served as an international platform for artificial intelligence competitions, bringing participants together and promoting active discussions to explore the diverse applications of AI. The aim was to support exceptionally talented young people in this rapidly growing field. In addition, the Olympiad promoted the organization of AI competitions for secondary school students and motivated them to develop intelligent solutions through algorithm design, learning, data structuring and programming. The event offered students, AI specialists and global decision-makers the opportunity to engage with the future AI landscape, stay abreast of the rapid advances in the field and equip young talent with cutting-edge technical skills.
SDAIA organized the Olympiad to strengthen international relations between technology and software experts and artificial intelligence educators from different countries. The event also aimed to draw young people’s attention to these cutting-edge technologies and inspire other countries to organize similar competitions in the future.
Participants from over 25 countries took part in a training session that included 15 virtual lectures on the scientific aspects of using the ZINDI platform. These tests were intended to motivate students to engage with AI and give them the knowledge they need to excel in the field.
As part of the preparations for the Olympiad, a series of virtual lectures on AI were offered on the Olympiad website. These lectures served to prepare the international teams participating in the competition and enabled students from around the world to benefit from the content and expand their understanding of this important area. The five-week lectures covered a range of topics related to the use of AI in various sectors, including an introduction to AI, the impact of AI on society in terms of ethics and justice, and the role of data in supporting businesses. Other topics included deep generation models, guided learning, AI research, learning assessment, reinforcement learning and unsupervised learning.
The International Artificial Intelligence Olympiad (IAIO) was part of SDAIA’s ongoing efforts to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s reputation as a global leader in data and AI. The project is in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 by raising awareness of the importance of these advanced technologies and equipping communities with the necessary knowledge and skills to master them.