Winners of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence Admitted to HSE University

© HSE University

In mid-August, Bulgaria hosted the finals of the first International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) among high school students. The Russian team demonstrated excellent results, winning gold medals in the scientific round, silver medals in the practical round, and coming first in both rounds overall. This year two members of the Russian team were accepted into the programmes of the HSE Faculty of Computer Science.

In the final round of the competition, the Russian team faced off against school students from 39 countries, including China, Japan, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the USA. The Central University (CU), established with the support of T-Bank, was responsible for training the team.

Currently, two members of the Russian team, Nikita Kurlaev and Andrey Gritsaev, are first-year students at HSE University. They talked to HSE News Service about the Olympiad, the admission process, and their plans for the future.

Nikita Kurlaev

About the Olympiad

— The fact that this year’s Olympiad was the first of its kind greatly influenced our experience of participating in it. It differs from traditional international Olympiads like IMO and IOI, which have a large international community and a long history of training participants. We went to the competition without knowing what tasks we would face, who the other participants would be, or how the results would be checked, etc. We prepared using official materials, but clearly it wasn’t enough.

Many teams that did not win medals included participants or candidates for the IOI and IMO national teams. These are extremely smart people who, unfortunately, did not dedicate enough time to studying the features of ML. I am sure that next year it will be even more challenging but also more interesting to participate in this Olympiad.

I am pleased to have taken first place, although it was a difficult achievement. We have been diligently preparing for a long time and we have benefited from years of experience in Olympiads, including the All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren, as well as our knowledge of mathematics and computer science.

About machine learning

— I've been interested in machine learning for a long time, but I didn't acquire the skills I needed to study it until the 10th grade. Even a basic understanding of ML methods requires a good knowledge of mathematics at a level beyond the school curriculum. At first, ML seemed like magic to me, and I tried unsuccessfully to play around with existing models. It wasn’t until grades 10–11 that I started to study machine learning more seriously. I read articles and books about ML, worked on small projects.

About HSE University

— I have realised that HSE University meets my requirements much better than other universities. This decision was based on several factors, including university values, campus infrastructure, teaching staff, and study process. I am confident that the ‘Applied Mathematics and Information Science’ programme at FCS offers the best bachelor's programme in computer science in Russia.

About my future plans

— In the next four years, my main focus will be on completing my degree. I may participate in student competitions or internships, but studying remains my top priority. After graduating, I hope to pursue a master’s degree in a related field. I envision myself engaging in scientific research and perhaps working in the ML field. While it’s difficult to predict what my interests will be in a few years, at the moment, I can only speak about my current interests, hoping they will remain relevant in the future.

Andrey Gritsaev

About the Olympiad

— I wanted to participate in the Olympiad for several reasons. Firstly, it was an opportunity to compete and solve problems in a field that I’m interested in. Secondly, I wanted to meet smart students from other countries who shared my passion for AI. The Olympiad consisted of two rounds: a scientific round and a practical round. In the scientific round, we were given problems that simulated real research in AI. These problems were divided into three categories: machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. During the practical round, we conducted experiments with AI software, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E 2.

Tips for high school students

— Consider participating in the All-Russian Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence if you are interested in this field. Additionally, if you want to learn more about machine learning, I suggest taking some courses. This year, there may be training camps preparing for AI Olympiads, so it's worth keeping an eye out for updates from the Olympiad community.

About my future plans

— In the next few years, I intend to pursue research and work in this area.