SENIOR High School students of the University of Santo Tomas dominated the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Artificial Intelligence competition.

Danielle Sta. Rosa, Laetita Alessandra David and Louise Randell-so Fabico ranked first after securing a final score of 275.

They bested teams from India, Hongkong, South Africa and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, UST students Zyro Gonzales, Juliana Corrales and Tashannah Doller secured the 1st runner-up spot while Russel John Benjamin, Lara Franchesca Dy and Gabriel Hao placed 2nd runner-up.

“The competition involved a ten-hour in-person or online training workshop in which learners had to build their own artificial intelligence object recognition system,” UST said.

“Students from Hong Kong Polytechnic University facilitated the workshop, which involved topics on A.I. object recognition, machine learning, and block programming,” it added.

During the competition proper, learners were blindfolded and had to rely on their invented system to help find the objects they were looking for.

The blindfold was a way of allowing learners to empathize with those struggling from loss of sight.

The three tasks were “Find the Right Instant Noodle,” “Sort the Lollipops,” and “Read the Emojis.”

Among the judges for the preliminary round from the UST faculty were Francis Noel Alarcon, Ellis Mika Triño, Reuben Jerome Atayde, Osbert Bryan Villasis and Jake Morales.