Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) will hold the first international edition of the International AI Olympiad (IAIO) between September 8-12, in which some 25 countries are expected to take part.
The event will be held in collaboration with the International Center for Artificial Intelligence Research and Ethics (ICAIRE) and the International Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) in Slovenia, under UNESCO auspices.
SDAIA aims to establish this international Olympiad as a premier platform for AI competitions, nurturing talent, and fostering skill development. The event will be a forum for scientists and enthusiasts from around the world to exchange ideas, enhance capabilities, and explore the latest advancements in the field.
Moreover, SDAIA envisions IAIO as a catalyst for future global expansions, serving as a powerful motivator for young men and women the world over to engage in activities pertaining to AI.
This initiative aims to cultivate a new generation equipped with a profound understanding of the transformative technologies that have become an integral part of humanity's daily lives and business systems.
In preparation for the Olympiad, SDAIA conducted a series of virtual lectures on AI, on the Olympiad website, designed to qualify international teams for the competition and empower interested students from various countries to expand their knowledge in this crucial domain.
The lectures spanned five weeks and covered diverse topics such as Introduction to AI, Social Impact of AI (ethics, fairness), Kernel Methods, Working with Data, Deployed Deep Generative Models, Supervised Learning, AI-Search, Learning Evaluation, Reinforcement Learning, and Unsupervised Learning.
Each participating country fielded a team of up to four students, who will compete individually over two days during the third edition of the Global AI Summit. The first day is slated to focus on scientific questions, while the second involve solving scientific problems using AI technologies through a specially designed platform.
IAIO aligns with SDAIA's commitment to raising the Kingdom's global standing, making it a leading force in data and AI. It also contributes to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the UN by raising awareness about the significance of advanced technologies and equipping communities with the knowledge and skills necessary to master them.