GCSEs are the most stressful things on the minds of most 15-year-olds, but for a boy taking part in international Artificial Intelligence competitions, they pale in comparison.
In October, Paarth Aggarwal, a pupil at Queen Elizabeth's School in Barnet, won the Intel AI Global Impact Festival at the national level in the AI Changemakers category.
The competition was set up to democratise and celebrate AI innovation by the next generation, and Paarth’s entry was Navigate Ninja, which used AI to improve learning for children with autism spectrum disorder.
After speaking to qualified medical professionals, Paarth realised that “existing methods for teaching and learning are not personalised to an individual's needs”.
His entry won at a national level, but not internationally. Nevertheless, Paarth used his entry to develop a generative-powered AI app that he hopes will enhance learning for people with autism. He hopes to launch the app in the Google Play Store soon.
The Intel award is one of several accolades Paarth has won for his innovative use of AI.
In May, Paarth won another national prize at the Climate Detectives Challenge for his Next Gen Ninja, designed to help recycle electronic devices in Barnet.
As a prize, Paarth enjoyed a trip to the European Space Agency (ESA) in Italy. During the trip, he got to speak to leadership and see all “their cool little gadgets” that allow them to predict possible natural disasters.
A standout accolade was winning the Microsoft Imagine Cup Junior category at age 14, one of Paarth’s first global competitions.
Paarth used AI to develop Earthatarian, which he described as “a solution to combat food waste in households using the power of Microsoft Cognitive Services and machine learning models and sensors”.
He added that when the winners were announced it was “a moment you wouldn’t believe, it was a moment of pure anticipation”.
Paarth’s interest in technology began with the Macbook his dad gave him when he passed his 11+.
He was curious about the video games he played so started teaching himself the basics of coding through YouTube tutorials before beginning to create his own games.
As for the future, despite not taking his GCSEs yet, Paarth has his eyes set on attending an Ivy League university.
In his free time, Paarth enjoys playing chess both with school and online, and plays for his school rugby team.
He confesses that balancing this with school and his desire to “keep serving society" with cutting edge and tech-savvy products, means he can feel a little “burnt out”.
It makes staying up late to write an essay seem easy by comparison.
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