The Chinese Chess Challenge "1K vs Al" Battle Day

2017.10.27

The Chinese Chess Challenge "1K vs Al" Battle Day held on 27 October 2017 has successfully attracted 1 140 primary and secondary students to attend and set a world record for "The Most People Battling Against the Artificial Intelligence Chinese Chess System on the Spot Simultaneously".  Being one of the celebrative activities to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, the event has effectively achieved the intended objectives of arousing students' interest in pursuing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) studies.

Apart from the main event of the Battle Day on 27 October, the OGCIO and Cyberport also collaborated with the academia and industry in arranging two workshops, namely Al Knowledge Enlightening Tour for primary and secondary students in August and September 2017 respectively, to promote Al technology among the youth/students. Visits to Tsing Yi IVE STEM Education Centre, Cyberport, and WeChat-HKUST Joint Lab on Artificial Intelligence Technology were arranged. The Dean of Engineering Faculty and the Head of Computer Science and Engineering Department of HKUST delivered talks to visiting students on STEM studies and future development of AI technology, while AI experts of Amazon delivered a presentation on Amazon Web Services. Participating students also learned coding for applications with Al and machine learning functions from Al experts of Microsoft. In addition, an AI Chinese Chess Fun Day with Masters was held in October 2017 to teach participating students how to play Chinese Chess and how to tackle AI in Chinese Chess playing.

The successful organisation of the whole programme, including the Battle Day event and the pre-event technology workshops and fun day, has demonstrated the OGCIO's staunch support in promoting STEM education among the youth/students with a view to nurturing ICT talents, which dovetails with the direction set out in the Policy Address delivered in October 2017. The wide and positive coverage of the event of adopting Al in Chinese Chess playing in many newsletters and computer magazines has greatly helped promote a pro-technology atmosphere in the school community and society, thus encouraging education and development in the technology field.

Al Knowledge Enlightening Tour I

Visit to Tsing Yi IVE STEM Education Centre

Al Knowledge Enlightening Tour II

Visit to Cyberport, Microsoft and WeChat-HKUST Joint Lab on Artificial Intelligence Technology at HKUST

AI Chinese Chess Fun Day with Masters

The Chinese Chess Challenge "1K vs Al" Battle Day