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The Federal Artificial Intelligence Competition (BWKI) is taking place for the sixth time this year. The registration phase has just started. Dr. Dr. Caroline Schmidt, coordinator of the Federal Artificial Intelligence Competition, explains to heise online:
Dr. Caroline Schmidt has been the project coordinator of the Federal AI Competition since the first round. Together with her team, she looks after the participants in the competition, connects alumni and develops learning media on the topic of AI. She works passionately in extracurricular MINT education, for the BWKI and in the Tübingen Makerspace.
The “Jugend forscht” competition probably means something to the majority of people in Germany. The national AI competition is still comparatively young. What distinguishes the BWKI from “Jugend forscht”?
The crucial criterion and the big difference to “Jugend forscht” is that the participants at BWKI have to use machine learning methods, i.e. develop an artificial neural network. With the BWKI, we serve a specialist area – a niche, so to speak – in computer science.
If the students have a particularly good idea for creating a program or a programmed application, they are in the best hands with “Jugend forscht”. However, if the implementation of the project idea requires a self-learning system, such as image or speech recognition, BWKI is the right address. The jury for the competitions also differs accordingly. At BWKI, the members always come from research and the application area of machine learning.
Which projects have particularly impressed you in recent years?
One of the first winning projects was particularly impressive. A team has developed an algorithm that predicts train delays. You can enter your planned rail connection on the rail forecast website and receive an estimate of possible delays.
Another project that greatly impressed the competition team, as well as the audience and the jury, is last year's winning project: inspired by Elon Musk's plans to implant a chip in the brain. In order to carry out movements under mind control, a young person has set himself the goal of designing a comparable non-invasive method. Using a self-developed EEG cap, he can read brain signals, which can then be assigned to specific movements using an algorithm. In this way, a severely disabled person could make their way through everyday life using just their thoughts – comparable to Elon Musk's Neuralink application, only without surgery.
Has the competition changed since ChatGPT and other easily accessible AI tools were released?
So far, no major changes have been noticed in this regard. But of course the proportion of projects that use or focus on generative AI is currently growing. There have been a few projects in the last two years that have focused on debunking AI-generated content. In the first years of the competition there were primarily many submissions that worked with image recognition or focused on medical issues. We clearly see a change here. More and more participants are submitting projects that examine fake content on the Internet or hate speech on social media.
What if a project stalls and participants need help?
Participants are invited to exchange ideas on our Discord server. Many people who take part in the BWKI's offerings meet here. Programming problems are solved together or team partners are sought. If there is no answer from the community or there is a specific question about the competition, the BWKI team answers and looks for solutions. This can be the case, for example, if computing capacity is required or it is unclear whether the project topic could be relevant.
How have the number of participants changed over the years?
The number of participants has grown, starting at 120 to 150 per year. The number of participants in our free online course, which can be used to prepare for the competition or just to learn the basics of AI, has particularly grown. We already have more than 10,300 users here, with a monthly increase of 600 people per month.
Approximately how many hours does the course and its various modules consist of?
The free online AI course was published as a small learning module at the end of 2020 and has since developed into a comprehensive online course with a workload of more than 160 hours. The aim of the course is to promote breadth and to convey the basics of AI to anyone interested. There are three central chapters in the course. The heart of the course is about programming – you can learn Python from scratch all the way up to using it in your first AI project. In addition, in two further chapters we provide scientific-historical background information on the topic of AI and the ethically correct handling and use of AI applications in society. The course is designed so that it can be used directly in class, for example by creating a virtual classroom. If you want to use the learning content alone, that is of course also possible.
Are there schools that establish themselves as permanent guests with their project ideas?
Most projects in the competition are submitted by individual students, regardless of school. There is currently no integration of competition preparation into school lessons. This is often due to the lack of a computer science subject or the lack of scope. Nevertheless, there are individual teachers who specifically address and support young people. We would like to see participation in competitions becoming an integral part of school education in the future.
What we see, however, is that there are schools that use our online course in lessons or in working groups. The school that participates most actively during a school year receives the title “KI School of the Year”. In the last three years these were the Coppernicus-Gymnasium Noderstedt (SH), the Neuenbürg High School (BW) and the St. Augustin High School in Grimma (SN).
What feedback do you get from teachers regarding the competition?
The competition supports the students to a special extent, especially in independent and interdisciplinary work. We receive very positive feedback from teachers on this. As already mentioned, the schools are unfortunately not yet fully involved in the support of the competition projects. However, many teachers are already using our teaching material from the online AI course. We receive very positive feedback here. There is currently very little teaching material for this area. The scope, content and user-friendliness are particularly praised. Many schools have already integrated the course into their regular teaching routine.
What topics would you like to address beyond the BWKI?
For us, the holistic concept of AI development is important. An AI is much more than code. The project must bring sustainable benefits to society and be solvable exclusively using an AI approach. The project must also not violate ethical and democratic values. Data and personal protection must be guaranteed and discrimination against certain groups of people must not occur.
In the super election year of 2024, the BWKI will of course focus on the topics of democracy and freedom. We will focus on these topics primarily in our social networks during the competition year and create appropriate information campaigns, for example what influence AI can have in electoral processes. This can also provide inspiration for possible project submissions.
Who is behind the competition?
The national AI competition is organized by the Tübingen AI Center, a BMBF-funded competence center at the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. The competition is based there in the area of public relations and operates on a non-profit basis. The main sponsor of the initiative is the Carl Zeiss Foundation. The competition is also supported by other sponsors and cooperation partners.
The competition received its first relevant seal of quality in 2022 when it was accepted into the “Working Group on Nationwide Student Competitions”. The application for inclusion in the list of recommendations of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs is currently underway. An important step for us, because from then on, participation in the competition can be recognized across the board as school achievement.
How is the jury named and how many jury members are there?
The 15-member jury is made up of a transdisciplinary team – a mix of former and new members. This ensures a good balance between comparing previous projects and independent assessment. They represent the categories of science, creativity, application, sustainability, society and alumni. In addition to the initiators of the competition – Prof. Matthias Bethge, Dr. Wieland Brendel and Prof. Bernhard Schölkopf – , the jury in recent years has included Ranga Yogeshwar, Suzanna Randall, Kenza Ait Si Abbou, the Leibniz Prize winner Veronika Eyring, as well as people from companies such as Bosch, Festo and various start-ups.
Editor's note: heise Medien is a partner of the national AI competition. c't editor Pina Merkert is also a member of the jury this year.
The Federal AI Competition (BWKI) has existed since 2019. The initiators are researchers from the Tübingen AI Center. The Tübingen AI Center is a competence center at the University of Tübingen and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The main sponsor of the initiative is the Carl Zeiss Foundation. In addition to its competition, the BWKI also offers a free AI course for anyone interested. Schools that make particularly good use of this course have the chance to become “AI School of the Year”.
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