International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence
The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) is an unofficial International Science Olympiad in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). (Not to be confused with the International AI Olympiad) IOAI is a team competition for high school students - each country or territory participates with up to two teams, consisting of up to four students, supported by one leader. The first IOAI was held in Burgas, Bulgaria, in 2024. IOAI is held annually in different countries.
Structure
[edit]The IOAI consists of two rounds: scientific and practical.[1]
- Scientific round: the scientific round consists of two parts: at-home (with minor weight) and on-site. Participants have a month to solve the at-home problems and eight hours for the on-site ones. Many contestants from various teams have stated that the given problems had unreasonable and unrealistic restrictions and was not relevant to the advancement of AI.
- Practical round: The practical round is held on-site over four hours and consists of two problems, covering image and video generation. The participants work with existing AI tools to produce a visual result. In the 2024 inaugural year, there were many disputes around the fairness of this round.
Awards distribution: roughly 50% of the participants in each round receive gold, silver and bronze distinctions in ratio of 1:2:3, respectively (medals in the scientific round and awards in the practical round). The top 3 teams receive honorary trophies.
The IOAI is quite different from other International Science Olympiads, in that all of the tasks are completed as a team. There is no clear reason why this is, however. On the other hand, the International AI Olympiad is structured so that students complete the rounds as individuals - in alignment with all other International Science Olympiads. It is unclear whether either of them will become an official International Science Olympiad.
As an AI Olympiad, IOAI is actively engaged in discussions with the general public about the ethical aspects and the future of AI, primarily through its practical round and conference.[2] IOAI aims to involve a local celebrity each year to promote IOAI and together with the students to inspire broader community dialogue about AI. At the IOAI conference teams and guests of the Olympiad have the opportunity to attend lectures and participate in practical sessions on current topics in artificial intelligence.
Founders
[edit]The IOAI was founded by the LERAI Foundation, with members Lora Dineva, Elena Marinova, Rositsa Dekova, Aleksandar Velinov, and Iva Gumnishka.[3] The Olympiad collaborates with renowned scientists from leading universities to develop its competition tasks.[4] IOAI's partners and sponsors include institutions, NGOs, and companies worldwide.[5]
Governance
[edit]The current IOAI board consists of:
- Elena Marinova, chair of the board, founder
- Aleksandar Velinov, President, founder
- Katya Protsko, secretary
- Yova Kementchedjhieva, Chair of the Scientific Committee
- Lora Dineva, founder
- Rositsa Dekova, founder
- Iva Gumnishka, founder
- Antonio Carlan
- Steven Chen
- Young Mao, representative of the 2025 host
History
[edit]The 1st IOAI took place in Burgas, Bulgaria, from August 9 to 15, 2024. The event featured nearly 200 students from 32 countries and territories from 6 continents, organized into 41 teams. The focus of the 2024 IOAI scientific round was on natural language processing, machine learning, and computer vision. In the practical round, the students worked in the space of AI and art, creating a single cover and video for the remix of the song "Love" by Bulgarian singer Maria Ilieva.[3]
For the 2025 International Artificial Intelligence Olympiad, Beijing, China, has been chosen as the host city.[3]
Participating countries and territories
[edit]2024, founding countries and territories:[6]
Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, El Salvador, Estonia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iran, Isle of Man, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, Poland, "Letovo", Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vietnam.
References
[edit]- ^ "What is IOAI". IOAI. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
- ^ Pavlov, Filip (2024-07-31). "First International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence Aims to Draw Attention to Moral, Ethical Issues, Say Founders". Bulgarian News Agency. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
- ^ a b c "Bulgarian Students Shine at Inaugural International AI Olympiad with Gold and Bronze Medals". Novinite.com. 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
- ^ България организира първата международна AI олимпиада [Bulgaria is organizing the first international AI olympiad]. Forbes Bulgaria (in Bulgarian). 2024-06-26. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
- ^ Gigov, Lyubomir (2024-08-10). "World's 1st International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence Begins in Burgas". Bulgarian News Agency. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- ^ "Countries and territories". IOAI. Retrieved 2024-09-05.