Latest news with #AtCoder
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Competition shows humans are still better than AI at coding
Computers have taken the crown in chess, Go and poker, but when it comes to competitive coding, humans still have the edge – just. Earlier this month Przemysław Dębiak, a Polish coder and mind sports champion, narrowly clinched a victory over OpenAI's entrant in the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2025, in Tokyo. However, the elite coder, who goes by the online name Psyho, predicts he may be the last human to win the prestigious title due to the incredible pace of technological progress. 'That's probable,' said Psyho, 41, who previously worked at OpenAI before retiring five years ago. 'I would prefer not, mostly because I like these competitions and knowing there's this magical entity that can do it better than me would be a little bit frustrating.' There is an irony, Psyho acknowledged, that coders have contributed to their own professional demise. 'Before the contest, I tweeted 'Live by the sword, die by the sword',' he said. 'I helped developing AI and I would be the one who would be the loser of the match. Although I won, in the end, for now.' The AtCoder euristic division included 11 human participants (invited on the basis of world rankings) and a coding algorithm designed by OpenAI, which finished in second place, 9.5% behind Psyho's winning score. Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, tweeted his congratulations. The 10-hour contest involves solving a complex optimisation problem. A classic in the genre is the 'travelling salesman problem', where the salesman needs to figure out the shortest possible route between multiple cities, each visited once. Typically, these problems are simple to state, but finding an optimal solution is computationally very complex. And so, while ChatGPT is now routinely used to write boilerplate code, the AI's performance on an open-ended logic problem will be viewed as impressive. 'At the current state, humans – top humans, to be clear – are still much better at reasoning and solving complex problems,' said Psyho. But humans are 'bottlenecked' by how quickly they can type code, while an AI can try out lots of small adjustments very rapidly. 'The model is like cloning a single human multiple times and working in parallel,' he said. 'AI might not be the smartest right now but it's definitely the fastest. And sometimes multiplying a single average person many many times produces a better result than a single, special human being.' The result comes as major tech companies, including Meta and Microsoft, are turning to AI to write software code. Dario Amodei, the Anthropic CEO, warned in May that AI could take 20% of white-collar jobs in the next one to five years. 'Every profession has this right now, more or less,' said Psyho. 'Some people have it coming right now – all of the white collar jobs. For manual jobs, robotics is lagging by several years.' Like many in the industry, Psyho is ambivalent about the potential impact of ever more powerful AI models. 'We have a tonne of issues,' he said. 'Disinformation, social impact, humans not having a purpose in life. Historically society moves at a very slow pace. Technological progress right now is moving at a faster and faster and faster pace.'
Time of India
21-07-2025
- Time of India
Brain over bots: "Humanity prevails" as human programmer defeats AI in 10-hour programming war
A Polish programmer has beaten an OpenAI model in a gruelling 10-hour coding competition, sparking fresh debate about where artificial intelligence fits in skilled work. Przemysaw Debiak, who goes by Psyho online pseudonym, came out on top against OpenAI 's custom-built model during the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2025 in Tokyo. The result has got people talking about what this means for programming's future. AtCoder runs one of the world's most respected competitive programming platforms, attracting elite coders from across the globe. This year's competition had an unusual twist - for the first time, an AI model called "OpenAIAHC" went head-to-head with 12 of the world's best human programmers. Debiak, who used to work for OpenAI, ended up winning the whole thing. A brutally intense competition format The competition format was brutal. Everyone had to tackle one massive optimisation problem in the Heuristic Contest category; one of the hardest areas in competitive programming. The problem was classified as NP-hard, meaning contestants needed clever, sometimes imperfect approaches to find the best solution they could within 10 hours. This wasn't just about coding ability. Competitors had to keep their concentration sharp and think strategically whilst battling exhaustion over the marathon session. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Nvidia's AI Strategy Is Clear - But Is Wall Street Paying Attention? Seeking Alpha Read More Undo The organisers made sure it was fair by giving everyone identical hardware - no computational advantages for the AI. Contestants could use any programming language AtCoder supports, but there was a catch: five-minute cooldown periods between submissions. This meant everyone had to think carefully before making their next move. Despite OpenAI's model having incredible processing power, Debiak's determination and problem-solving skills won out. His final score hit 1,812,272,558,909 points, beating the AI's 1,654,675,725,406 by a slim 9.5% margin. The AI still performed brilliantly though, outscoring the other 10 human competitors. Ex-OpenAI employee's win was symbolic of something far more important This wasn't really about points or algorithms, it was symbolic. Many people saw this competition as representing something much bigger: the ongoing struggle between human creativity and AI's growing capabilities. As artificial intelligence keeps advancing in medicine, engineering, and countless other fields, this contest became a pivotal moment in discussions about automation and whether humans still have a place in specialist work. The win meant something special for Debiak. Having worked at OpenAI previously, he knew exactly how powerful AI could become in transforming entire industries. Yet his victory showed that human determination, creativity, and mental toughness still count for something, even against advanced AI systems. Debiak posted on social media afterwards: "I'm completely exhausted. … I'm barely alive. Humanity has prevailed (for now!)." The close result highlighted how AI can crunch through vast amounts of data quickly, but still can't quite match the subtle problem-solving abilities humans bring, especially under intense pressure. Sam Altman's acknowledgement and what to expect next OpenAI handled their narrow defeat well. They congratulated Debiak on social media, writing: "Congrats to the champion for holding us off this time." Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, also praised Debiak with a simple "Good job psyho" post. Although AI came second, OpenAI saw this as progress in competitive programming AI. But it raises uncomfortable questions about future contests like AtCoder. If AI can already match some of the world's best human programmers, how long before machines completely take over these events? It's a worrying thought for anyone who sees these contests as celebrations of human technical achievement. For now, though, humans have held their ground. As AI keeps evolving, the balance between human and machine intelligence gets more delicate. Whilst AI programming abilities are expanding rapidly, this contest proved there are still areas where human creativity and resilience can just about edge out even the most sophisticated AI models. Whether this continues as AI becomes smarter and more autonomous is anyone's guess, but right now, human ingenuity has had its day. Debiak's victory wasn't just about beating a machine - it was about proving that humanity can still adapt and endure, even as technology races ahead at breakneck speed. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Hans India
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Hans India
Human beats AI in Tokyo coding contest!
Tokyo: Atthe 2025 AtCoder World Tour Finals' Heuristic Challenge held in Tokyo, renowned coder Przemysław Dębiak — widely recognized in the programming world as 'Psyho' and a former member of the OpenAI team — edged out the specially designed AI model in a tightly contested battle. Hosted in Tokyo by the esteemed Japanese competitive programming site AtCoder, this year's grand finale introduced a unique twist — a 'Humans vs AI' showdown. Considered the pinnacle of invitation-only programming competitions, this elite tournament welcomes just 12 of the highest-ranked coders annually, chosen through rigorous qualification 10 hours, the event tasked participants with tackling one exceptionally difficult optimization problem—completely unaided, with no access to libraries, documentation, or outside help. Though the AI took an early lead, Dębiak ultimately overtook it. Although AI initially pulled ahead, Dębiak eventually surpassed it by drawing purely on his instincts, creativity, and deep expertise. Fellow coder Stanisław Eysmont commented, 'Przemek succeeded without pre-built tools, without reference materials, and without any guidance.' 'I was so tired. I actually felt at some point that I should take a break,' Dębiak, who competed under the name 'Psyho,' told the reporters. 'But at the same time, I was very close to getting a score comparable to the model,' he added. In a historic first, the contest opened its doors to an AI competitor, with OpenAI not only sponsoring the event but also entering its custom AHC model as an official participant. To ensure fairness between human participants and the AI system built by OpenAI, AtCoder supplied standardized hardware to all contenders. The rules of the tournament allowed the use of any programming language supported on the AtCoder platform, and there were no penalties for incorrect submissions. Dębiak was also instrumental during his tenure at OpenAI, serving as one of the pioneering engineers behind OpenAI Five—the AI system that famously triumphed over professional Dota 2 players in 2019. In a post shared on the social media platform X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman acknowledged Dębiak's win and wrote, "good job Psyho." OpenAI also publicly recognised its tool's performance on X, stating, "Our model took 2nd place at the AtCoder Heuristics World Finals! Congrats to the champion for holding us off this time."
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Yahoo
Human programmer beats OpenAI's custom AI in 10-hour marathon, wins World Coding Championship — Polish programmer might be the last human winner
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Przemysław 'Psyho' Dębiak, a 42-year-old programmer from Gdynia, Poland, made history by defeating OpenAI's custom AI model at the AtCoder World Tour Finals (AWTF) 2025 "Humans vs AI" contest in Tokyo. Considered one of the most prestigious coding tournaments in the world, the AWTF invites just 12 of the top-ranked human programmers—and, for the first time, an AI competitor—to tackle its grueling challenges. After a 10-hour coding marathon, Dębiak edged out the AI by roughly 9.5%, clinching first place while the OpenAI-built model settled for second. 'Humanity has prevailed (for now)!' Dębiak wrote on X, confessing he'd slept only around 10 hours over three days while pushing himself to the limit. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman aptly responded with, 'Good job, Psyho.' The AI model, branded OpenAIAHC, was widely expected to dominate the market. Still, Dębiak's innovative, heuristic-driven approach—using problem-solving shortcuts and educated guesses instead of brute-force calculation—secured the win. Contest administrator Yoichi Iwata praised his distinctive method, noting that while the AI excelled at raw optimization, it 'fell short of human creativity.' The AtCoder World Tour Finals (AWTF) is regarded as the ultimate stage for heuristic programming contests that focus on 'good-enough' solutions to complex, unsolvable problems rather than perfect ones. This year's challenge tasked competitors with plotting a robot's path across a 30×30 grid using the fewest possible moves, an NP-hard optimization problem with countless possible outcomes. With no access to external libraries or documentation, success relied on intuition, creativity, and adaptability—qualities where human ingenuity can still outthink the raw speed and precision of AI models. Dębiak, a former OpenAI engineer who helped develop OpenAI Five (the Dota 2 AI), competed using only Visual Studio Code with basic autocomplete and admitted the AI pushed him to his limits: 'I was close to the model's score, and that pushed me to give everything.' Near the end of the 10-hour marathon, he overtook OpenAIAHC to claim victory and a 500,000 yen prize. A veteran algorithmic competitor, Mensa member, and four-time TopCoder Open Marathon champion, Dębiak has never held a full-time job and once even joked about considering careers from DJing to professional poker. His win carries symbolic weight, a human triumphing over AI in a field where machines typically excel. All that being said, AI's steady progress is undeniable—Stanford's 2025 AI Index found coding benchmarks jumped from 4.4% AI success in 2023 to 71.7% in 2024. With tools like GitHub Copilot used daily by over 90% of developers, AI is reshaping workflows. However, this win highlights that creativity, endurance, and intuition —especially in long-form heuristic challenges —remain human strengths. Dębiak isn't naive about the challenge ahead, saying, 'It's easy to imagine a different problem where AI would win and humans would be far behind.'. Still, this feels like a human John Henry moment—a testament not just to sheer human will, but to the spark of creativity machines haven't replicated and (hopefully) will never be able to. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Hans India
19-07-2025
- Science
- Hans India
Human Coder Triumphs Over OpenAI in 10-Hour AtCoder Showdown
In a landmark moment for human ingenuity, Polish programmer Przemysław Dębiak, better known in the coding world as Psyho, emerged victorious over an advanced OpenAI model in a grueling 10-hour programming challenge at the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2025. Despite the formidable pace and precision of AI, it was sheer human persistence that clinched the win — if only just. Shortly after the event, Dębiak took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), posting: 'I'm completely exhausted. ... I'm barely alive. Humanity has prevailed (for now!).' Dębiak, who once worked for OpenAI himself, rose above exhaustion and intense competition to score a staggering 1,812,272,558,909 points, edging out the AI entrant 'OpenAIAHC,' which scored 1,654,675,725,406 — just 9.5% behind. The remaining ten human finalists, all top-tier programmers selected through a year-long ranking process, couldn't match the pace of either. Held in Tokyo by the renowned Japanese platform AtCoder, this year's finals featured an unprecedented 'Humans vs AI' special event. The programming community watched closely as twelve of the world's top coders took on a sophisticated AI designed by OpenAI — the same company behind ChatGPT. The stakes were high, not just in terms of points, but in what the outcome would symbolise in the ongoing conversation around human versus machine capabilities. The format of the event was intentionally designed to push limits. Spanning 600 minutes, the competition involved solving an extremely complex optimization puzzle — a hallmark of the Heuristic Contest category. These types of challenges are famously hard, often requiring approximate or creative solutions under time pressure. To ensure fairness, all participants — human and AI — operated on identical hardware. Submissions were spaced out by a mandatory five-minute cooldown. While the AI system outperformed the rest of the human participants, the fact that Dębiak bested the machine has quickly become a symbolic victory — a testament to human resilience in the age of automation. Even OpenAI acknowledged the significance. In a public statement, the company wrote: 'Our model took 2nd place at the AtCoder Heuristics World Finals! Congrats to the champion for holding us off this time.' OpenAI CEO Sam Altman added his voice with a brief but pointed message: 'Good job psyho.' Dębiak's win is not only a personal milestone but a reminder that human creativity and grit remain highly relevant — especially in arenas dominated by logic, speed, and algorithmic prowess. The result has sparked fresh reflection on how AI and humans will coexist in technical professions going forward. As AI tools continue to advance and close the gap, many wonder how long humans can hold their lead. Yet for now, the scoreboard — and perhaps something more — remains in favour of humanity.
