On the 5th of December, we went, along with another school, to the Basque Centre for Applied Mathematics (or BCAM) which is in Alameda Mazarredo street in Bilbao. It certainly was an interesting experience, thanks to which we learned a lot about various topics.
Immediately after crossing the entrance, we waited for a very kind woman, named Nagore, that introduced us to the challenges that all the members face, and accomplish. It was an enriching experience to see how complicated tasks are solved through teamwork and effort.
After seeing the huge blackboard that they used, and the incomprehensible graphs they displayed on a screen, we walked into the conference room. We sat down on very comfortable armchairs, and we were given a talk by two researchers of the centre:
Ander and Onintze.
Ander, started by talking about the functioning of artificial intelligence, how it works, and what has been made with this technology. For example, he talked about Tesla cars, how they read the environment and how they dodge obstacles in the road. Then, in Onintze’s turn, we were taught about the application of artificial intelligence in smart cities. For instance, in China, A.I. is being used to gather data about citicents; for example their facial ID, and their criminal history. They used it to prevent criminal activity by recognizing the delinquent’s face and arresting them wherever they are.
Finally, they made a question and answer round to talk about our Lego League projects. They helped us to improve our innovation projects by giving us useful hints and information. However, that didn’t last for long, because we soon started to ask about whatever came to our minds(related to artificial intelligence), such as how do face IDs work and how are 3d models made.
It was a fulfilling experience, and also a lot of fun, so we are hoping to do this kind of activities more often to collect knowledge and valuable experience and, in this way, point ourselves towards our future objectives and goals.
Mariana & Imanol (4th Secondary)