Saudi Arabia Launches AI National Olympiad – Check Out Key Details Here

In an effort to prepare the next generation of innovators and coders, Saudi Arabia has launched a National Olympiad for Programming and Artificial Intelligence for all middle and high school pupils across the Kingdom. Registrations end on November 28.

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), announced the initiative aimed at encouraging competition among pupils.

Project Expected To Help Build An AI-Enriched Economy

An estimated 300,000 pupils will be selected from 3 million participants for training in programming and AI. As the world embraces AI, the SDAIA said the objective of the competition is to help discover distinguished pupils who will analyse algorithmic programming problems.

The AI National Olympiad is expected to encourage school students to develop computational thinking. Those wishing to participate can register through the official Mawhiba website. While the first round of test is on January 26 and 27, the second one is from April 23-27.

Organisers hope the initiative will help build an AI-enriched economy, with the project expected to spread the culture of competitive programming and build a creative generation capable of scientific competition in international competitions.

The final stage of the project encompasses the Scientific Creativity Olympiad, which shall see 35 pupils across the Kingdom getting selected to represent Saudi Arabia at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

Saudi Arabia Grants Citizenship To A Robot

The Middle Eastern country has been heavily investing in artificial intelligence. In May, global consultancy Deloitte opened an academy in the country that aims to promote the adoption of AI and support the Kingdom’s digital transformation drive.

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Furthermore, in 2017, Saudi Arabia became the first country to have granted citizenship to a robot. Sophia was built by the Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics in 2015. It’s inventor claimed the humanoid robot is imbued with AI and can recognise faces.