The first "Global Youth Turing Program", a public welfare project focusing on the cultivation of global young technology talents, recently held an award ceremony at the Exhibition Center of Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone. 

Young students from around the world who love artificial intelligence – as well as experts, teachers and practitioners in the field of AI – watched the awards ceremony on-site or online through platforms such as CCTV, Bilibili and Baidu to witness the birth of the "Turing Youth." 

Participants of the first "Global Youth Turing Program" pose for a group photo. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The "Global Youth Turing Program" was initiated by the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee and jointly sponsored by the Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence of Renmin University, the High School Affiliated to Renmin University and the Cultural Science Park of Renmin University. 

The project is aimed at young people worldwide, focusing on cutting-edge technology fields such as "AI+" and is committed to discovering, tracking and training middle and high school students with exceptional potential in the field of technological innovation and application. The project provides support to such students in further education, entrepreneurship, employment and project incubation.

In the context of global pandemic prevention and control, the organizing committee overcame various difficulties in conducting a three-month selection, training and practice program. More than 2,000 young students from over 50 countries and regions, including China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore, participated in the Turing Project's scientific and academic research. 

Thirty-two students who demonstrated outstanding scientific literacy and creative ability won the title of "Turing Youth". Meanwhile, discussions held by 12 world-class debate teams on "AI+" helped the public think about and design a smart future for our planet. 

Focused on cutting-edge AI technology, the project has realized the training of scientific research capabilities through algorithmic questions such as "Predicting the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases around the world."

At the same time, four major training camps examined the application of AI+, with topics including robots that can answer legal questions using judicial forum data, semantic segmentation of lung CT images and supply chain programming. 

Through group discussions, in-depth learning and simulation training, the students learned how to use AI in cross-discipline technologies. By visiting the Lenovo Future Center and other cutting-edge technology companies in Zhongguancun, they felt the power of innovation. 

Compared with previous youth projects, the first "Global Youth Turing Program" has innovated the form and content of activities. 

The program built a complete support chain for the discovery, training and tracking of young talents. Based in China with a view to the world, the project brought together government agencies, colleges and universities, science parks, AI companies and other forces to build a multi-faceted, multi-resource and multi-level training platform for young people.

It also explored a brand-new paradigm of quality education and balanced education to cultivate a reliable reserve force for the future development of global AI technology. 

The program explored a new model of selection and full-process training for young talents. Based on the concept of "selection is training," the Turing Program did not merely carry out selection relying on the results of problem-solving but combined training, learning, teaching and practice to form a hierarchical and categorized whole-course tutoring curriculum system. The program included more than 100 online courses in different learning sections, such as scientists’ open courses, AI professional courses and research topic interpretation, among others.

Guided by teachers from universities, middle schools, technology companies and world-class programming competition teams, participants received scientific research information, practical experience and training. 

The program has built a project organization that combines AI and technology application ethics innovatively.

The project has pioneered the establishment of a debate contest, which broke through the limited paradigm of exploring technology in the field of technology and exploring AI in the field of AI. 

The debate tournament explored the changes that AI brings to the world from the perspective of future human development, inspiring social thinking in young people.

The program cooperated with the Silicon Valley startup Kuda World. It introduced the CodeQuest Global Youth Artificial Intelligence Programming Charity Challenge for the first time to jointly promote the popularization of AI general education among young people around the world. 

At the award ceremony, the organizing committee summarized and reported the work and results of the first "Global Youth Turing Program." The leaders presented trophies, certificates of honor, and Turing badges to the winning students, teams and outstanding instructors. 

"Turing youths" who have obtained the Turing badge will have the opportunity to participate in the Turing Project's various scientific research activities. 

Domestic and foreign student representatives of the professional group shared the research process and results of the project. At the same time, the student representatives of the speculative group shared their thoughts about participating in the Global Youth Turing Project Speculative Invitational.

Wen Jirong, executive dean of the Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence of Renmin University of China, said that the organizing committee would gather more resources for the next event to build a better platform for developing young talents in the fields of science and technology, and gather more inspirational young talents. The program will also strive to explore enthusiasm, cultivate scientific literacy and promote the tolerance of multiple cultures, inspiring more students to realize their dreams and become scientific heroes. 

The second Global Youth Turing Plan will be launched in May of next year. It is hoped that more like-minded youths can join the event and help bolster the reputation of the "Global Youth Turing Plan."