Mastering mathematics is crucial for both humans and AI alike. On March 14th, International Day of Mathematics, the 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition opens for registration. The most significant innovation this year is the competition's first-ever inclusion of AI, inviting global AI models to take on challenging competition problems.
Mathematics not only embodies outstanding achievements of human intellect but also serves as a key driver for the next wave of AI innovation. While AI has demonstrated remarkable performance in areas like natural language processing and video generation, it still faces limitations when it comes to solving complex mathematical problems. In contrast, humans possess more flexible thinking and abstraction capabilities, enabling them to adapt to unstructured and multimodal information inputs. Inviting AI to compete is also a unique form of science communication, helping to clarify misconceptions about AI among the public and advancing the frontier of mathematics and AI exploration.
In this edition of the competition, the preliminary round will take place on April 13th and 14th, where AI models will face the challenge of preliminary round questions alongside human participants. The organizing committee will focus on evaluating the AI models' understanding of the questions, accuracy in logical reasoning, and problem-solving abilities. To ensure fair competition and prevent human substitution, participants are required to submit their model code before the start of the competition for verification and reproduction. The top three AI teams in the final score rankings will receive prizes of $10,000, $5,000, and $2,000 respectively. It is reported that many research teams from domestic and international universities, as well as large model startups, have expressed strong interest and are preparing to participate.
Yin Wotao, a member of the competition's organizing committee and head of the Decision Intelligence Laboratory at Alibaba DAMO Academy, stated that the introduction of AI brings a new perspective to the competition, allowing everyone to witness AI's capabilities in logical thinking and problem-solving.
Co-hosted by Alibaba Public Welfare and Alibaba DAMO Academy, the Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition, known for its lack of registration barriers and abundant fun, is now in its sixth edition. It has grown into the world's largest online mathematics competition, attracting enthusiastic participation from over 250,000 individuals from five continents and more than 70 countries and regions.
