TLDR: The Philippines has launched its first National AI Prompt Design Challenge, a nationwide competition aimed at democratizing generative AI skills. Organized by Straits Interactive and the Analytics and AI Association of the Philippines, the challenge empowers individuals from all backgrounds, including non-coders, to build AI tools using prompt engineering. This initiative aligns with the government’s goal of establishing the Philippines as an AI R&D hub.
Manila, Philippines – In a significant stride towards fostering a future-ready workforce, the Philippines has officially launched its inaugural National AI Prompt Design Challenge. This nationwide competition, spearheaded by data and AI governance experts Straits Interactive in partnership with the Analytics and AI Association of the Philippines (AAP), aims to democratize access to generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills and empower individuals to build AI-powered solutions without requiring traditional coding knowledge.
The challenge is designed to introduce participants to the fundamentals of prompt engineering, a crucial skill for effectively interacting with and guiding large language models (LLMs) to generate insights, automate tasks, and solve real-world problems. It targets a broad spectrum of participants, including working professionals, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), students, educators, and legal experts, emphasizing that no prior technical or programming expertise is necessary.
Participants will leverage Straits Interactive’s Capabara platform, which seamlessly converts text prompts into functional AI chatbots and tools. The platform supports various leading LLMs, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, offering flexibility to participants. The competition is structured as a one-day event, comprising a morning bootcamp focused on essential AI prompt techniques, followed by an afternoon challenge where teams transform their prompts into innovative AI applications to address chosen business problems.
Kevin Shepherdson, CEO and Founder of Straits Interactive, articulated the vision behind the initiative: “This prompt competition is not targeted at data scientists and coders, but instead at people who hold the domain expertise to guide the Large Language Models (LLMs) to create robust AI assistants. Our goal with this competition is to harness the immense potential of Gen AI while ensuring that its development remains grounded in ethical principles and responsible practices. By engaging students, professionals, and innovators from diverse backgrounds, we aim to democratize AI and make its benefits accessible to everyone.”
The challenge offers attractive incentives, with cash prizes for winners: Php 50,000 for the first-place team, Php 25,000 for second, and Php 15,000 for third. Additionally, all participants who successfully complete the challenge will receive Certificates of Completion, recognizing their newly acquired skills in generative AI.
This initiative builds upon the success of the inaugural Singapore National AI Prompt Design Challenge held last year. A past winner from Singapore, Ronald Soh, Business Development Director at NSIT Training, shared his experience, stating, “As a business owner, I was amazed how quickly I could build practical in-house IT solutions that cut development and troubleshooting time. With the skills we learned from the bootcamp, I believe that everyone can do it if you just put in the time and effort.” Soh’s team notably created an IT Support Technical Advisor app designed to provide cost-effective technical support for SMEs.
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The National AI Prompt Design Challenge aligns seamlessly with the Philippine government’s strategic thrust to establish the nation as a center of excellence in AI research and development. This commitment is further evidenced by the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) establishment of the Center for AI Research (CAIR) and the launch of the National AI Strategy Roadmap 2.0. The challenge is poised to significantly contribute to the Philippines’ burgeoning AI ecosystem, fostering innovation and preparing its workforce for the demands of an AI-driven global economy.
