Int’l AI Olympiad for high school students kicks off in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — Around 40 teams from over 30 countries and regions gathered Saturday in Bulgaria’s city of Burgas to participate in the inaugural International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) for high school students.
The week-long event offers a dynamic platform for young minds to demonstrate their expertise in AI, creativity and problem-solving skills, said the organizers.
The IOAI, held under the patronage of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, is structured as a team competition in both scientific and practical rounds, focusing on three core areas of AI: Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Computer Vision.
In a congratulatory message delivered at the opening ceremony, Radev highlighted the significance of the Olympiad as a platform where young talents from around the globe can showcase their abilities and push the boundaries of their imagination.
He emphasized AI’s transformative potential in revolutionizing healthcare and education sectors and in providing businesses with opportunities to create solutions with high added value.
Radev said he was proud to be the patron of this Olympiad as it not only offers a platform for knowledge and ideas exchanges but also, with combinations of scientific and applied challenges, encourages critical thinking and provides fresh perspectives in solving complex problems.
Bulgaria’s caretaker Minister of Education and Science Galin Tsokov also underscored AI’s crucial role in humanity’s future development. “Today, we are laying the groundwork for annual gatherings of some of the brightest minds in this field from across the world,” Tsokov said, expressing his confidence that the exchange of knowledge will contribute to global progress.
Alexander Velinov, one of the IOAI founders, said “today at the opening ceremony, it is clear that we have laid the foundation for something really big and significant, an event that has the chance to change AI education around the world.” ■