At a time when it seems like Artificial Intelligence (AI) will take over the world, professors at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIITB) have introduced a new course — Competitive Programming — that will help humans solve problems that even AI tools struggle with.
Competitive programming is a course in which students learn data structure, algorithms and, most importantly, efficient problem solving skills, which will help them extract information efficiently from tools like Chat GPT.
“If we can sum up what this course does in one line, we can say that it makes students better problem solvers,” said Vivek Yadav, a professor at IIITB, who is leading the course along with V. N. Muralidhara. The value-added course, which was introduced in October 2023 saw enrolment of 550 students, which is 40% of students in IIITB across all the courses.
“With the evolution of AI, Chat GPT and other tools, students need to become very good problem solvers. All tech companies, like Microsoft, Google and Facebook, need problem solvers. AI tools like GPT are rote learners, and solve mundane problems. But when it comes to using Chat GPT for actual problem solving, we can get the initial code, but to analyse and debunk that code, it is taking double time,” Prof Yadav said.
“In technical terms, it hallucinates. It is not able to give true results. To correct it, we need to spend more time.”
The course was inaugurated by two alumni of IIITB, Aditya Paliwal and Simran Dokania, who had participated in competitive learning competitions and are now working as a quantitative researcher and software engineer, respectively.
Aditya Paliwal explained the importance of the course saying, “GPT has some fundamental limitations, and struggles with critical thinking and problem solving. To extract the most out of it, you need intelligent human beings. If you are not aware, then you cannot tell when GPT gives out wrong results or why it is wrong. With so many using it blindly, this problem is going to plague the industry, and we will end up with software disasters. If students are not skilled to detect these mistakes, then they will ruin their careers.”
Prof. Yadav said that the things being taught in the course are helping students crack the initial interview rounds. “The problems they are solving in the course are being asked in the interviews.”
With so many people enrolling for the course, the professors have entrusted teaching assistants to train many students. “We set up the curriculum and problems, but it is being driven by senior students (who have done well in competitive programming) and third-party resources,” he said.
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