Alibaba’s math competition attracted more than 563 teams from all around the world, including participants from such prestigious places as MIT, Stanford or Princeton while for the first time this year, it allowed artificial intelligence (AI) to assist with solving questions.

Yet no one expected that 17-year-old fashion student Jiang Ping from China would beat all the AI teams and get into the finals.

More info: Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition

Jiang Ping, a 17-year-old fashion design student in China, stunned everyone when she finished 12th in the latest qualifying round of the Alibaba Global Math Competition

Image credits: T-Time HK

Image credits: T-Time HK

Jiang Ping got everyone’s attention after she took 12th place at the highly competitive 2024 Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition. She was also the only female in the top 30 list released by DAMO Academy. 

The girl who broke the stereotype and earned a remarkable spot among the 801 global finalists is a fashion student at Jiangsu vocational school. She has been studying math for two years on her own. Jiang always had passion for math and was keen on solving challenging problems, yet never took it too seriously.

When Jiang first discovered the Alibaba math competition, she didn’t have much confidence in herself, but still wanted to try her luck. Wang Runqiu, a math teacher at the vocational school, who ranked 125th in the contest, was the one who encouraged the girl and helped her join the competition.

“She is a self-disciplined girl. When her classmates are playing around, Jiang Ping spends all her spare time studying math,” Wang shared. “I have encountered many setbacks in the process of learning math, and if I had met a guide, maybe my life would have been different. So, I want to do everything I can to help my students and let them know that there are other possibilities in the future.”

Math was only a hobby for Jiang and at the time she didn’t think that she deserved to compete with people from prestigious universities, yet the contest was open to everyone with no minimum education requirements.

“I used to think that I wasn’t qualified to participate in such contests, but maybe this can be an opportunity for me to prove myself, especially after learning that waiters, waitresses, delivery persons, doctors, and others can all participate,” Jiang explained. “If studying fashion design is my plan A, then exploring the world of math is my plan B. I hope my plan B can be seen.”

Image credits: T-Time HK

Image credits: T-Time HK

Interestingly enough, according to DAMO Academy, all AI teams failed to get into the finals, with the highest score being just 34. Despite the fact that AI scores already reached the average level of human participants, they still lack knowledge facing multiple-choice solutions.

“AI challenges are a meaningful attempt, which can help us to break through the limitation of AI’s capability,” explained Yin Wotao, who’s the head of the decision intelligence lab of DAMO Academy and a committee member of the competition.

Although the U.S. is considered to be leading the AI race, the best 3 AI teams were from China: Shanghai Jianping High School, Southwest Jiaotong University, and Renmin University.

While Jiang’s achievements are still raising debates all around the globe, the results of the finals will be announced in August and the winners will share prizes of more than 4 million yuan (552,120 USD).

“The final is much more difficult than the preliminary. If Jiang doesn’t get the result we expect in the final, I hope we won’t criticize her too much. I hope she can enjoy the competition and [do] her best,” Wang said.

Jiang who reached the finals as the only contestant not from an elite university either in China or overseas, is planning to continue her math journey.

“Learning math is bumpy, but every time I solve the problems, I feel quite happy. No matter what the future holds, I will keep learning [math]. I have never thought of giving up,” she shared.

Jiang is currently studying fashion design at Jiangsu Lianshui Secondary Vocational School

Image credits: Ambassade de Chine en France

Image credits: T-Time HK

Image credits: Chinese Culture

Jiang Ping’s story not only became an impressive worldwide inspiration but also brought to the surface the need to optimize the talent identification and cultivation mechanism in China, where fashion design is often considered a choice for people who can’t do well in school.

People on the internet shared their excitement about Jiang Ping’s remarkable achievement

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