Top Bulgarian singer Maria Ilieva is the celebrity face of the 1st International Olympiad in AI (IOAI)

August 9th in Burgas, Bulgaria, kicks off an exciting week filled with science, education, future technologies, and… art. The best students in the field of artificial intelligence will gather in the Black Sea city to compete in the first edition of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) (https://ioai-official.org/). The Olympiad was created by a team of five Bulgarians and has attracted almost 200 students from almost 40 countries. International scholars from leading universities are involved in organising and creating the tasks while Google is olympiads the main sponsor.

Today, we present an interview with one of the most successful female vocal performers on the contemporary Bulgarian music scene – Maria Ilieva. Maria is the face of the artistic, creative, part of IOAI.

Maria, lately everyone is talking about the entry of artificial intelligence throughout society – especially into the arts. Some welcome it, others are scared. What do you think about it?

Our lives are dynamic and changing rapidly. Every day new technologies and software are released, changing the way we live, and for artists, the way we create. But this is the reality; we live in the 21st century, and the world around us, our world, is like that. We cannot change it, nor is it right to stand against these changes – against progress. We need to learn these new technologies, understand how to work with them, and how they can be useful to us because they are already part of our daily lives.

But many people are afraid that artificial intelligence will replace humans. Do you think this could happen, for example in music or in art?

Replace – no, I don’t think so. These are just tools that give creators even more freedom. Who cares what underlying software is used? A creator is a creator, and their work remains their own. For several years now, Abba has had performances with their virtual images that attract millions of visitors…

Yes, but when it comes to artificial intelligence, it can still generate parts of the text, music, video, or even entire works…

Artificial intelligence can generate, but not create. It cannot reach true art because it lacks emotions. Only when there are emotions in a song, for example, can it be called art, only then can listeners feel that emotion while listening to it, that thrill that cannot be replaced by a machine or computer…

But people say that ChatGPT is used by students to write their homework, by programmers to write their programs…

(Laughs) Well, then why didn’t you use ChatGPT to generate an entire interview with me? Because it doesn’t work that way. These AI programs have certain capabilities. Yes, they are much higher than other programs we’ve used so far, but they are not limitless.

Why did you decide to participate in the First International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence? How did this rather interesting, let’s call it “symbiosis” – Maria Ilieva and students from all over the world, come about?

I have always supported children, students, and young people. Not only in music, which is my field, but everywhere I can. I have held charity events to support our student Olympians, and I will continue to help them in any way I can.

About Maria Ilieva

Maria is recognized as the most successful female vocal performer on the contemporary Bulgarian music scene. An award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer, her unique talent, exceptional voice, authentic style, and influential personality have earned her unprecedented admiration from the public and media, as well as the highest professional recognition among musicians and artists of all generations. With over 35 hit singles reaching #1 and more than 45 awards for music and style, Maria Ilieva has significantly expanded the boundaries of the Bulgarian pop scene. She has performed alongside legends like Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Simply Red, Scorpions, Lou Bega, Zucchero, Gypsy Kings, James Arthur, and others. Additionally, she has opened concerts for artists like George Michael, Simple Minds, Dannii Minogue, and Garaj Mahal. Her performances include concert tours worldwide, including the legendary Olympia Hall in Paris, France, and the MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. Off-stage, Maria has been a coach in seasons 10 and 11 of “The Voice of Bulgaria,” a judge and mentor in the first three Bulgarian seasons of “X Factor,” and part of the judging panel of the first Bulgarian season of “The Masked Singer.” She has participated in Hollywood and Bulgarian films and TV shows. Maria has also been involved in numerous social and charitable activities, supporting regional and national causes.

About IOAI

The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) is a STEM-focused competition aimed at inspiring, developing, and promoting the best students in AI globally. Each year, IOAI will highlight different AI fields; this year, the focus is on Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning, and Computer Vision. 

As an AI Olympiad, IOAI will actively engage in discussions with the general public about the ethical aspects and the future of AI, primarily through its practical round. The founders also aim to involve a local celebrity each year to promote IOAI and together with the students to inspire broader community dialogue about AI.

The 1st IOAI will be held in Burgas, Bulgaria August 10-14, 2024 under the Patronage of the President of Bulgaria.

Founders

The olympiad is founded by the LERAI Foundation of five Bulgarians: Lora, Elena, Rosi, Alex, and Iva.

• Lora Dineva is dedicated to education development with over ten years of experience organizing national linguistic events, including preparing teams and hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics and is currently pursuing a master’s in artificial intelligence for business and finance. Professionally, Lora applies AI to improve efficiency and innovation in the government and financial sectors.

• Elena Marinova has a 25-year career in the IT sector as a co-founder of Musala Soft, now part of the IT business of the KKCG group. She is a leader in business excellence, innovation, and STEM education development. Elena is on the boards of companies, IT associations, and NGOs. As a public figure, she speaks and writes about leadership, technological trends, innovation, and education. Elena holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in strategic management. She is the co-founder of the oldest private programming competition, CodeIT.bg (2000), and the European Junior Olympiad in Informatics (EJOI, 2017).

• Rositsa Dekova is an associate professor at the University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Her passion for linguistics began in high school when she won national computer linguistics competitions. This passion continues in her academic and research career. Rositsa holds two master’s degrees in linguistics and software engineering from the University of Plovdiv and a PhD in linguistics from NTNU, Trondheim. Over the years, she has actively participated in organizing linguistics and computational linguistics competitions and conferences. She is a member of the organizing committee for two international linguistics olympiads (2015, 2023).

• Aleksandar Velinov became interested in scientific competitions in school and won the national linguistics competition in the 12th grade. As a student, he began teaching linguistics and has been leading classes in all major schools in Sofia for over 20 years. Alex works in the IT sector but maintains his hobby, leading the Bulgarian national team almost continuously since the first International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) in 2003. Alex has organized IOL twice (2015, 2023) as chairman and has been a member of the IOL international board since 2015.

• Iva Gumnishka is a former competitor and gold medalist in mathematical linguistics from IOL. She is the founder of Humans in the Loop, a social enterprise processing data for artificial intelligence, and a board member of ForHumanity, which works in the field of AI system auditing.

Sponsors and Partners

The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence is organized under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, with institutional support from the Ministry of Education and Science and the Municipality of Burgas.

The Platinum sponsor is Google.

The Gold sponsors are Vivacom, MBZUAI. 

Silver sponsors are Jane Street, Ontotext, SoftUni and Leading Coding. 

Bronze sponsors are Musala Soft, Team-GPT, Anthill, DiaDraw, Non-Trivial, Sofia Tech Park, Wiser, Print.bg, FlagFlag.bg. 

Organizational partners are theNatural Sciences Olympic Teams Association, Elektrick.me, Neutral Frames, Hotel Primoretz Burgas, Pobeda, Harmonika, Sindeo, MNKnowledge, Arcana Labs. 

Academic partners are MBZUAI, Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”, INSAIT, MIT, University of Copenhagen, Sharif University of Technology, University of Oxford, Technology Innovation Institute, University of Houston, PPMG “Acad. Nikola Obreshkov”, Burgas, OU “Alexander Georgiev-Kodzhakafaliata”, Burgas, and PKPI Burgas.