When AI Can Code, What Is Left for Young People to Learn?

Unlocking a three-stage challenge

Most programming competitions end with the awards ceremony, but YTP offers a rigorous three-stage development sequence. The first stage comprises an online preliminary round and the Programming Challenge Camp, testing logical thinking and problem-solving skills. The second stage formerly centered on hands-on projects, with university professors mentoring students through project development; this year, it will take the form of an in-person hackathon. Finally, standout participants are selected through interviews and presentations to visit Silicon Valley the following summer and attend the weeklong Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship (BMoE) Bootcamp at the University of California, Berkeley.

In response to the rapid development of AI tools, YTP’s second stage will take the form of a one-day, in-person hackathon for the first time this year. Working within a tight time limit, participants must rapidly brainstorm around a designated theme and turn their ideas into working prototypes. Systex will also subsidize the cost of AI tools, encouraging students to use AI to support their thinking. The challenge tests not only the hard skills required to integrate technologies, but also the ability to define problems, turn ideas into reality, and communicate as a team.

In teams of three, participants huddle around their laptops to brainstorm and tackle programming problems together.

Dressed as Luffy from the manga One Piece, a contestant concentrates on the problem on screen.

Broader horizons matter more than certificates

Willy Chan, now a second-year student in the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Taiwan University (NTU), is a five-time YTP participant who has progressed from contestant to judging-system developer and problem setter. He says YTP’s greatest rewards are not only the satisfaction of solving problems, but also the like-minded friends he has met. In addition, attending the program at UC Berkeley after his freshman year brought home to him the value of broadening one’s horizons.

Speaking of the BMoE Bootcamp, he says: “Within a week, you have to form an international team with people from around the world, explain your ideas clearly in English, and develop a business plan capable of convincing investors.” He adds: “You have to show that a problem is worth solving and that your solution genuinely works—well enough to persuade other people to use it. Convincing yourself isn’t enough.”

His US experience was made all the more eye-opening by visits to global technology companies such as Google and NVIDIA. Chan observed that Silicon Valley’s culture is to “start first and figure things out as you go,” whereas students in Taiwan tend to work out every detail before taking action. “Entrepreneurs there say that if they had known how hard starting a business would be, they would never have begun,” he says with a laugh. “But if you never begin, you’ll never know how far you can go.”

Anime plush toys accompany contestants at YTP events, serving as their personal competition good-luck mascots.

A generous spread of food keeps contestants fueled throughout the competition.

In the age of AI, do young people still need to know how to code?

Liao Shih-wei, an associate professor in NTU’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, has served as a mentor since YTP’s first edition. He believes that as AI rapidly permeates every industry, YTP is even more important today than when the program began a decade ago. “In the past, many things had standard answers. Now, work for which there are standard answers may well be done by AI.” Young people in Taiwan, he stresses, lack neither intelligence nor problem-solving ability. What they truly need is the “courage” and “vision” to take technology to the world stage and turn ideas into products.

“Find your place in the age of AI.” What the future needs is not engineers who can do nothing but code, but innovators who remain passionate, learn proactively, define problems, collaborate with others, and identify needs in an uncertain world—thereby creating value and impact.

YTP alumnus Willy Chan has progressed from contestant to a developer of the competition’s judging system and problem setter. (courtesy of Willy Chan)

The four finalists selected from the 10th YTP visited the United States and attended a program at UC Berkeley. From left: Lai Hong-an, Liu Yang, Lin Hung-teng, and Liu Weilian. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Beyond winning

Over the past decade, Systex has invested in YTP not to churn out instant champions, but to patiently nurture young people who dare to solve problems and set their sights on the wider world.

The scoreboard keeps changing throughout the competition. Each time a team solves a difficult problem, quiet high-fives and cheers ripple through the room. No one knows whether the next Jensen Huang is among these young people, but for now, they are savoring the joy and satisfaction of taking on a challenge. As Chan tells younger participants: “Don’t overthink it. Just start—do something first and figure out the rest later.”

Systex has specially hired instructors and advisers to coach the overseas-program participants in one-minute pitches. In this photo, Liu Yang delivers a pitch. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

1.Lai Hong-an, a student in NTU’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, is a Rubik’s Cube expert and based a pitch on the puzzle.

2.Liu Weilian, a student in NTU’s Department of Electrical Engineering, says YTP’s yearlong program taught him “how to define a good problem.”

3.NTU computer science student Lin Hung-teng has a particular interest in cybersecurity and vulnerability analysis.

4.Coming from a self-directed education background, Liu Yang now works at Google and runs a YouTube channel about learning to program.