Hackathon Planning
7 Tips to Make Your Next Virtual Hackathon a Success
Find out how to organize your event and stand out to developers.
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Get ideas for your next AI hackathon with this look at other AI events hosted on Devpost.
There’s been a massive increase in interest in AI since OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022. But, AI isn’t a new concept. In fact, companies have been hosting AI hackathons on Devpost for years. Hackathons are a great way for companies to stay ahead of the curve, reach a community of developers, generate creative ideas, and test new products. So, it’s a natural fit to use a hackathon as an opportunity to explore AI and machine learning solutions.
Take a look below to see five great examples of how other tech companies leveraged AI in hackathons.
An AI hackathon is a competitive event that brings together participants with the goal of solving real-world data challenges using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. The event specifics can vary a lot depending on the organizer. For example, some organizers might ask participants to develop new tools or applications using their AI platform. Other hosts might ask participants to create AI-based solutions to address specific business challenges or social problems.
Company: Microsoft
Date: Jan 26 – Apr 5, 2021
Summary: Build AI-powered apps with pre-trained models or create your own machine-learning models.
Open to developers and data scientists of all levels, Microsoft hosted this hackathon around its Azure AI services. Participants were asked to use Azure services to build AI-powered apps or devices, conversational bots, ML models, or something else of their choosing.
(Microsoft also hosted its Azure U.S. Hack for Accessibility around the same time—check out the results from that hackathon here.)
The Results: The event was well-represented with over 1900 participants and 130 project submissions. The top three winning projects included a device that used Azure AI to convert digital text/printed text/speech to Braille, an app that makes software more accessible for people with impaired mobility, and a device that helps pathologists speed up screening slides for diseases.
Company: Amazon
Date: Jan 5 – Mar 1, 2022
Summary: Train a deep learning model on new Amazon EC2 DL1 instances powered by Habana Gaudi accelerators.
Participants were invited to test their skills and train a deep learning model of their choice using DL1 instances and Habana’s SynapseAI SDK. Participants were also encouraged to use multiple Gaudi accelerators to efficiently scale their deep learning models.
The Results: There were 1725 participants and over 50 projects submitted in the hackathon. There were 13 winners with the top prize going to a project that trained the model and connected text and images in over 100 languages.
Company: Determined AI
Date: Feb 20 – Apr 17, 2023
Summary: Build and train a machine learning (ML) model with the fastest and easiest tool to build deep learning models at scale.
Participants were asked to build and train an ML model with Determined AI, which is an open-source platform for building and training ML models. The event was open to everyone from experienced ML engineers to those who are brand new to ML, with many resources provided to participants from Determined. Participants were tasked with building a machine learning project (complete with a deep learning-based model, training loop, evaluation loop, and dataset) that works on the Determined AI platform.
The Results: This hackathon kicked off during the beginning of the “AI boom,” so it’s no surprise it garnered a lot of attention. There were 820 participants and three winners. The top prize went to a project that created a model to predict a Parkinson's patient's future UPDRS-3 score, which measures the patient’s motor skills. The model was built using Determined AI’s Cloud service and Tensorflow Keras libraries. The model was trained using the AMP®-Parkinson's Disease Progression Prediction dataset from Kaggle.
Company: Coda
Date: June 13 – Jul 17, 2023
Summary: Submit templates that show how Coda AI helps you save time and accomplish more—for a chance at a $10k grand prize.
Coda is an all-in-one doc that brings words, data, and teams together. In this hackathon, participants were asked to submit Coda AI-enabled templates that help people save time and accomplish more. The hackathon allowed participants to experiment with using Coda and find ways to improve it. The templates were required to fit into specific categories and had to be submitted to the Coda Gallery.
The Results: This hackathon had 1036 participants and 168 project submissions that provided new ways to use Coda AI-enabled templates. Overall, there were 10 winners who showcased creative use cases for Coda AI, including marketing, health and wellness, and recruitment. The top prize went to a project that made it quick and easy to extract social post content from long-form content and turn it into ready-to-post Instagram carousel images.
Company: PingCAP
Date: June 6 – Jul 28, 2023
Summary: Code, innovate, and build amazing data applications.
In this hackathon, participants have the opportunity to leverage the numerous advantages of serverless technology to streamline their application development process. This event gives entrants access to TiDB Serverless, a fully managed, MySQL-compatible, database service on AWS where they can create scalable, resilient, and high-performing applications.
The Results: The hackathon received a lot of attention from participants, with 1486 users and 60 projects submitted. Submissions included a wide variety of applications including dynamic resume builders, a Slack bot, an AI powered multiplayer trivia game, and many more. Eight winners were named, with the top prize going to a project that allows users to input their idea into the program and then has AI generate everything that would typically be done by developers.
When it comes to planning and hosting an AI hackathon, make sure you’re providing participants with the resources they need to build great projects. Whether that’s a specific dataset, a tutorial on using your platform, or offering them technical support throughout the event.
The right hackathon platform can help streamline your planning, too. Devpost has been the trusted platform for high-profile hackathons for over a decade. Our team offers expert project management and marketing support to ensure you have your most successful hackathon yet.
Learn more about hosting an AI hackathon on Devpost.
