The "Diamond Sponsors" of the event are Huawei and OpenAI. I found the welcome note from OpenAI [1] quite curious:
"[...] Eventually, AI will be able to solve even the hardest contest problems that we’ve seen yet. It will work alongside us and help drive the discovery of new knowledge. What you take from this week - the sense of being stuck, the thrill of progress, and the practice of building together - will remain critical as you shape your community and the future you build. [...]"
By Chief Scientist of OpenAI, Jakub Pachocki. Who happens to be an incredibly accomplished Competitive Programmer (2nd in ICPC World Finals, Winner of Code Jam, 2nd in Hacker Cup).
[1] https://icpc.global/community/history/brochures/world-finals...
That curious statement comes across as inappropriate. These talented students are among the best in the world. Yet, openai chose to make it about and praise themselves. That was not classy.
Surely it's meant to reassure the contestants that they're not wasting their time. They'll obviously know AI can do some of this stuff so it's a reminder that the true purpose of the competition isn't to be good at programming.
People still compete in playing musical instruments, riding horses, painting pictures, etc. All redundant because of technology but still they do it for other reasons, not the practical utility of the product of their work.
Peak HN here. Playing musical instruments is "redundant because of technology". And so is "riding horses"? And "painting pictures". Eh, what?
For example, almost all music listened to today is recorded, not live. It was the opposite way around 100+ years ago. Almost all portraits are photographs, not paintings, etc. The common practical uses of those skills are gone and they're relegated to small niches, luxury services, and personal pleasure.
I think they mean audio recording/reproduction, automobiles, and cameras have replaced much of what musicians, horses, and painters used to do. Similarly, AI will replace much of the thinking and problem solving done by programmers.
Lol and the Huawei note wrote otherwise. AI still hallucinates a lot so pursue mastery over algorithms and data structures to improve the technology
Chinese century incoming.
How many chief scientists (aka career climbers) does OpenAI have at this point?
meret is really good tho.