Unleashing Creativity: Recap of the AI Hackathon at Microsoft Reactor organized by the Seattle chapter of AICamp

"Introduction: In a celebration of innovation and collaborative problem-solving, the Microsoft Reactor played host to an exhilarating AI hackathon event two weeks ago. Enthusiastic minds from diverse backgrounds gathered to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence, resulting in a showcase of remarkable projects. Among these, a striking trend emerged as the majority of participants focused their talents on generative AI solutions, sparking new avenues of creativity and exploration."

Hm, well, I guess ChatGPT hasn’t really grasped the real feeling of the event, so I must write this article by myself 🙂

Recap of the AI Hackathon at Microsoft Reactor organized by the Seattle chapter of AICamp. 

In line with the current trends, participants typically worked on projects related to Generative AI. At the beginning of the event, those with ideas had the opportunity to present their concepts, thus recruiting team members. For those who were still refining their ideas, inspiration was drawn from Yujian Tang's presentation. Yujian represented one of the main sponsors of the event, Zilliz, and unsurprisingly, he discussed the use of vector databases with LLMs (Large Language Models). Participants could turn to Yujian as a mentor throughout the rest of the day. Subsequently, teams began to form and separate, and the Microsoft Reactor building was an excellent venue for this.

I captured some photos that captured the atmosphere of the event. If you happen to appear in any of these photos but would prefer not to, please let me know!

The event itself lasted for a day, so in the afternoon, everyone had the chance to deliver their presentations. At my initiative, two participants who hadn't managed to complete their projects briefly shared what they had worked on and the experiences they gained. I believe this is a great opportunity for us to learn from each other.

Following this, the presentation of demonstrable projects took place in random order, within a strict time frame of a few minutes. It was fascinating to see how participants in the Generative AI world could bring something creative in so many different ways. There was a team that aimed to improve data sharing, one that personalized everyday bedtime stories, and another that tasked a model with parsing contract details. In total, we got to see 10 demos.

If any of the teams would like, I'd be happy to share a link to their project.

Most of the jury members came from the Venture Capital world, but Yujian and Bill Liu, the leader of AICamp, also participated. XSense emerged as the winner, surpassing the Kestrel and Embedcloud teams. Congratulations to all participants; I'm sure they gained valuable professional experience and connections.

Finally, I'd like to thank the organizers, the venue, and the sponsors for their support. I hope to see you again soon at a similar event!

Tamas