World's first Artificial Intelligence Olympiad began in Burgas

The first Artificial Intelligence Olympiad in the world was launched in the Bulgarian coastal city of Burgas on August 10. It was opened by the caretaker Minister of Education and Science prof. Galin Tsokov together with the Mayor of Burgas Dimitar Nikolov. Founded by Bulgarians, it became one of the largest newly established Olympiads related to artificial intelligence and STEM sciences.

"After the two Olympiads in computer science and the one in linguistics, this is another international Olympiad that Bulgaria is pioneering," prof. Tsokov said.

In his words, Bulgaria is launching an international competition in a field that will be key to the development of mankind in the coming decades. He congratulated the organisers, the jury, and the hosts from the municipality of Burgas.

"It is noteworthy that the first Artificial Intelligence Olympiad brings together nearly 200 participants - young people from all over the world who are engaged in this field. Today we are laying the foundation for annual meetings of some of the brightest minds in this field in different parts of the world and I hope that this exchange of knowledge will also contribute to the development of the world," said Prof. Tsokov.

He also addressed all the participants, wishing that the competition would bring them medals, but also "many good experiences and new friendships".

Nearly 200 students in 44 teams from more than 40 countries will be in Burgas from 9 to 15 August to show their knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence. Bulgaria as the host country will be represented by 2 teams. International scientists from leading universities are involved in the the arrangements and the formulation of the applied problems, with a key role played by the Bulgarian Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Information Technology INSAIT, which is part of Sofia University. Partners and sponsors of the Olympiad are institutions, NGOs and companies from all over the world.

For a week, students, leaders and scientists will measure their knowledge in the competition, which combines scientific and applied tasks. Its aim is to challenge participants to think critically, to accumulate theoretical and practical knowledge, to give them a perspective on the vast possibilities in this field and to put before them and society the current issues related to artificial intelligence.

Images by Eleana Tsanova and by BTA