Sber AI challenge

Sber Invites Nigerian Youth, Others to AI Challenge

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Nigerian youth interested in testing their knowledge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been urged to participate in an international AI challenge taking place in Russia hosted by Sberbank.

Business Post gathered that the competition, which will accept entries till September 15, 2024, has four stages comprising qualifying, main, semi-final and final.

This year, the new practice will be available for children under 13 years old (inclusive): they can choose an individual track โ€œBeginnersโ€ and compete with other beginners in developing solutions for partner companies of the competition.

In addition, they will have the opportunity to join the โ€œExplorersโ€ team track for competitors under 17 years of age (inclusive). In it, participants will have to develop solutions for cases from companies with increased complexity.

The 18 winning teams of the โ€œResearchersโ€ category will share a prize fund of 14 million rubles (over $150,000) in the finals.

The prize fund for all individual tracks, including another new track โ€œCreativeโ€, will be 3 million rubles (over $30,000), and participants will also receive additional opportunities for development.

The competition tasks are real challenges that technology businesses face today. They were developed by Sber teams, partners, and AI Alliance members.

โ€œThe future development of generative artificial intelligence models lies in the combination of design and engineering generation. Therefore, in this yearโ€™s competition for participants under 17 years old, we have developed an individual track โ€œCreativeโ€, where one needs to solve tasks using AI services such as GigaChat and Kandinsky.

โ€œOur competition will help children learn how to generate creative original content and shape digital culture trends.

โ€œFor example, last year the winners created a VR museum space, a weed recognition service and a model for diagnosing cardiac pathologies โ€” these are just a few examples of innovative solutions. The most popular area for work among the participating teams was Production.

โ€œIt required developing an algorithm for analyzing information on ordered materials aimed at the prevention of delivery disruptions. In total, more than 1,200 solutions were uploaded in this area. The youngest finalists of the competition were only 11 years old.

โ€œI wish all participants of the new competition good luck in creating unconventional technological projects,โ€ the First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank, Mr Alexander Vedyakhin, stated.