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Contest Rules

  • Number of rounds

    • Three rounds: Round 1, Round 2 (qualify via Round 1), and USAAIO camp (qualify via Round 2).

  • Eligibility requirements to participate in USA-NA-AIO

    • ​Be a U.S. or Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a full-time middle/high school student studying in the U.S. or Canada.

    • Be under 20 years old on the first day of the international competition in the competition year.

    • Must not be a full-time university student in the competition year.

  • Timeline

    • Before the contest

      • Download OBS free recording software to your computer. Learn how to use it to make a recording.

      • Check with your test site that during the contest, you can access your Google account (the email that you register for the contest, Google forms, Google Colab) and USAAIO's website.

      • Configure your Google Colab setting to disable AI.

    • During the contest

      • Ensure that all banned software and webpages are turned off.

      • Start to record couple of minutes prior to the start of the contest. That is, you must start to record prior to seeing contest problems. You should record both your screen and your face.

      • No access to your mobile device.

      • Be able to check your email. If you have any question, please contact contact@usaaio.org. 

      • Be able to check USAAIO's homepage www.usaaio.org. We may broadcast important things there.

      • You will see multiple problems. Your solution to each problem shall be on an ipynb file. â€‹

      • Each solution notebook name shall follow this format: LastName_FirstName_School_ProblemNumber.ipynb​

      • After the end of the contest, you will have 15 minutes to download your ipynb files to your local directory, and then submit them to USAAIO's designated directory. 

      • Do NOT turn off recording until you finish your submission.

    • After the contest

      • Before 11:59pm U.S. Pacific Time on the next day after the contest, you shall upload your recording to your YouTube channel. Set the privacy as "Private", and share it with USAAIO at contact@usaaio.org. To learn more about how to do so, please click here.​

      • Upload all your URL to USAAIO's designated directory.

  • Non-coding tasks with math

    • There are non-coding tasks that ask you to write math and put your answers in ipynb text cells. You must typeset your answers, including text and math.​

    • It is not acceptable if you write some equations on a paper, take a photo of your writing, and then paste it to your ipynb file.

  • Ban on using AI tools

    • Any AI tool, such as Google Colab Gemini API and ChatGPT, are strictly prohibited​.

    • Students must turn off Gemini API while using Google Colab.

    • During the contest, if you use any AI tool, such as using ChatGPT or Google Colab's Gemini API (this gives you hints for code in the light grey color), you will be disqualified.

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  • Permission on using autocomplete feature in Google Colab

    • It is a code intelligence feature, not an AI tool.

    • Similar to what you find in other IDEs, such as VS Code or Jupyter.

    • You are allowed to use it in the contest. Below are some examples.

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  • Self-recording

    • During the contest, contestants are required to use a free recording software, Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), to record both

      • their computer screens (monitors),

      • their faces.

    • Prior to the contest, please install this software on your computer and ensure that it works properly.​

  • What contestants are allowed to use during the contest

    • Google Colab.

    • USAAIO's official website.

    • Pencils and blank papers for doing scratch.

    • Google account (email, Google Forms. Google Colab).

  • What contestants are NOT allowed to use during the contest

    • AI assistant tools, such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini AI, DeepSeek.

    • Search engines, such as Google or Bing.

    • Non Google Colab calculators (Google Colab is sufficient to all computations). You are not allowed to bring an external calculator.

    • Social media, such as Discord servers, forums.

    • Cell phones.

  • How to contact us during the contest

    • Email us at contact@usaaio.org.

    • We will try our best to respond to your questions. However, we may refuse to respond to unreasonable questions, such as asking us how to solve a problem.

  • Examples of suspicious behaviors

    • Contestant A leaves the computer for 20 minutes (such as using restroom). After coming back, A can quickly solve many problems correctly without even carefully reading and thinking about problems.

    • Contestant B arrives to a test site 30 minutes after contest problems are released. Similar to A, contestant B can also quickly and correctly solve many problems without carefully reading and thinking about problems.

    • Contestant C frequently leaves the computer during the contest for various reasons, such as frequently using restroom.

    • Contestant D does not typeset anything by hands and simply sit in front of her/his computer. However, the monitor shows her/his work progress on generating text, equations and code.

    • Contestant E turns on Google Colab's integrated Gemini AI. That is, code cells pop up light grey code generated by Gemini AI to hint the contestant.

    • Contestant F starts to record after seeing contest problems.

    • Contestant G pauses the recording during the contestant (for any reason).

    • Contestant H blocks something (such as webcam, her/his face or hands).

    • Contestant I stops recording prior to submitting her/his solution form.

    • Contestant J opens some social network apps during the contest, such as Discord Server, forum.beaver-edge.ai, WhatsApp, WeChat, Xiaohongshu.

  • Disqualification (Zero tolerance on cheating)

    • One-cheating, permanent ban policy: If a student is identified to have a cheating behavior, this student is permanently disqualified for both the current and all future competition cycles.

    • USAAIO will notify the student's proctor on the disqualification decision.

    • If a disqualified student applies to an organization’s educational program (such as college applications, summer programs, or scholarship opportunities) and the program requests information about the student’s history with USAAIO, we will truthfully disclose the student’s cheating behavior and the disqualification decision.

FAQs

Question: I am a U.S. or Canadian citizen attending a school outside of the U.S. and Canada. Am I eligible to participate in USA-NA-AIO?

Answer: Yes.​​​

​

Question: Can I take USA-NA-AIO without being proctored?

Answer: No. If you do so, your score is not certified and you cannot advance to the next level competition.

​

Question: Who register for the contest? Contestants or proctors?

Answer: Contestants.

​

Question: Do I need to know who will be my proctor for Round 1 when I register?

Answer: No. You will be asked to enter your proctor's information during the contest.

​

Question: Is USA-NA-AIO individual-based or team-based?

Answer: Individual-based.

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