Inspired by the Danes
The Norwegian competition is inspired by, and held in collaboration with, the Danish AI Championship, which was founded by Ambolt AI five years ago. The award ceremony will be taking place during Nordic AI Meet, an artificial intelligence conference for young researchers, which is taking place in Norrköping in Sweden in the end of November. There, the winners will also get a valueable opportunitiy to built networks and hear inspiring talks within their field.
NORA's CEO, Michael Solvang, says the following about the competition, which also has been covered by Khrono:
– NMiKI is not just about solving AI challenges, but about gathering young talents from all over the country, built networks and show how artificial intelligence can be used to solve real problems. The engagement we see among the students is promising for the future of Norwegian AI.
- Rewarding week, says the winners
The winning team is called Attention Heads and consists of the following students from NTNU:
• Eirik Solberg, Computer Science, 4th year
• Kristoffer Osen, Computer Science, 4th year
• Lasse Bærland Strand, Computer Science, 4th year
• Sebastian Munthe, Computer Science, 4th year
• Sveinung Myhre, Cybernetics and Robotics, 5th year
• Yasin Ali Marouga, Computer Science, 4th year
– The Norwegian AI Championship was an intense and rewarding week of learning and problem solving, says the winning team. – We are proud of our victory and excited about the future of artificial intelligence in Norway.
The Cogito team came in second, while the third place went to Agent.
Solved Three Problems
The competition itself consisted of three problems to solve with artificial intelligence.
In the Race Car competition, the contestants' AI models were tested in an intense car game. The goal was to drive as far as possible in one minute without chrashing into walls or other cars. The player controlled a yellow car equipped with 16 sensors that registered obstacles in all directions. Based on these signals, the model had to decide its next action – change lanes, stay on course or adjust the speed. Each race lasted for up to 60 seconds, but one collision meant game over. Results were ranged by the distance the cars managed to race, and the contestants only got one chance in the final evaluation.
In the Emergency Healthcare RAG competition, the contestants were challenged to develop an AI model that can support an emergency room with quick and precise medical evaluations. The task consisted in training models that both can decide if a statement is true or false, and place it within one of 115 emergency medical themes. With strict demands regarding speed, information security and effective use of resources, the solutions were required to be usable offline. The competition hightlighted how AI can contribute to better support decision making in critical situations – where every second counts.
In the Tumor Segmentation contest, the participants were challenged to develop AI models that automatically discover and segment tumors in MIP-PET images. The goal is to replace time consuming manual processes with precise, machine learning-based segmentations that can contribute to faster and better cancer treatment. The solutions were evaluated based on quality and had to deliver predictions within 10 seconds per image. The competition reflects real needs within the health care sector and demonstrates how use of AI can free up clinical time and provide more consistent evaluations. By gathering developers, researchers and health professionals, the challenge highlights practical innovations that soon can be of benefit to patients.
A Lot of Interest Among the Students
Members of several student organisations have participated in the competition. Cogito at NTNU thinks it is a fantastic opportunity to solve exciting problems and showcase their skills:
– We're looking forward to it, Afras Mansoor, external relations officer at Cogito, said prior to the competition. – We've participated in a lot of hackathons before, but never something that feels as big and important as this.
Photo: Cogito student association, NTNU
Mansoor explained that the organisation has worked hard to highlight the competence and initiative of their members, and that the championship both gives them an arena to showcase this, and a chance to challenge their technical competence and cooperation skills:
– To be able to compete against other strong communities in Norway is incredibly motivating. We also hope this can contribute to more cooperation and unity across the AI communities at the universities.
Jakob Moen Bekken, leader of the student organisation Beta at the University of Agder, said that their members think it's fun that so many passionate individuals, businesses and others care about their professional- and student environments. They have aslo said that NMiKI has motivated more people to dare to ask questions, discuss with older students and learn things that otherwise are not part of their studies.
– The AI Champtionship is part of creating a foundation for learning and development a little ourside of the standard you often find yourself in as a student, one of Beta's members stated. – You have to be creative and curious, both as an individual and as a team, something which can result in new experiences and understandings of the topic.
The Private Sector Supports the Students
There has been great interest in the competition from the private sector - a clear sign of how important it is to develop and attract talents within technology. For many businesses, NMiKI provides valuable access to future coworkers, insight into the academic environments and a strengthened connection between education and work. Among the supporters, we find the Norwegian Mapping Authority, the Norwegian Financial Association, Telenor and Abelia.
– AI is becoming an efficient tool in the Norwegian private sector, including in finance. NMiKI gives students extra inspiration to engage in the opportunities AI provides for professionals, says Vigdis Mathisen, leader of the Norwegian Financial Association.
– It's both smart and exciting. We're cheering for NMiKI and are looking forward to seeing the results, she said ahead of the competition.
Abelia highlighted the need for technological competence as crucial for the transition Norway is facing.
– Norway needs new talents that can create the solutions of the future. Therefore, we want to signal that we're cheering on the students and the competence they're developing, says Øystein Søreide, CEO of Abelia.
He also points to the fact that NORA, the facilitator of the competition, gathers many of the most important actors within artificial intelligence in Norway – and therefore constitutes an ideal platform for supporting the next generation of AI-talents.
Mona Strøm Arnøy, director of regional and community relations in the Norwegian Mapping Authority, emphasises the value of students' perspectives:
– We have long experience with collaborating with students and know how valuable their ideas can be. NMiKI gives young people interested in technology the opportunity to explore how critical infrastructure, like geo data, can be further developed with AI. For us, it's about supporting innovation and about learning along with the next generation of technologists.
Telenor also supports the competition, and director of research and innovation, Dagfinn Myhre, tells us why:
– The private sector is competely reliant on cutting edge expertise to strengthen our competitiveness. For us, it's natural to support student initiatives like this. NORA represents one of the strongest professional environments within AI in Norway, and with its close connection to the student communities, it was obvious for us to support this. Telenor is a proud sponsor of NMiKI, he says.
NORA wants NMiKI to be more than a competition – it should be a national meeting place for the AI talents of the future, academia and the private sector. In the long term, the goal is to develop NMiKI into a Nordic Championship in collaboration with our Danish partners, to gather students from the entire region to compete for the title of Nordic AI Champion.
You can now find a press release at NTB.