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Terrible Ideas hackathon puts Artificial Intelligence to the test
24 March 2023
The University of Auckland’s second ever Terrible Ideas hackathon once again put the theory that there is no such thing as a bad idea to the test – this time with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.
Terrible Ideas is run by and for people who are passionate about building creative communities. The hackathon was managed by a group of volunteers from Whangarei’s Questionable Research Labs and hosted by Unleash Space, the innovation hub run by the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). Event organiser Zac Miller-Waugh says “Terrible Ideas is a gateway hackathon which is designed to be approachable. Everyone is welcome and people form teams with a wide skill set – some of our teams were entirely code-based, while others used cardboard and vivids! Through taking part in this experience, we hope participants can have fun, make friends, flex their creativity and develop their technical confidence.”
Some of the terrible ideas generated and prototyped included a karaoke machine that created original songs and a mobile robot that could rewrite its own code to make it move better. Hayden Moore, Maker Space Coordinator, said “Seeing the robot interact with ChatGPT to learn and evolve itself was impressive, and frankly terrifying. Another favourite was a group that designed a range of emotionally needy kitchen appliances.” These included a toaster that would only toast bread if you were nice to it, a shy kettle that did not boil when watched and a knife block that screamed when you put a knife in it.
The Terrible Ideas hackathon had 80 participants from a diverse array of backgrounds and study areas. Zac says “We hope to bring it back in 2024 and make it worse than ever.”
Read more about this year’s Terrible Hack from participant Rachel Meadows’ blog
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24 March 2023
The University of Auckland’s second ever Terrible Ideas hackathon once again put the theory that there is no such thing as a bad idea to the test – this time with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.
Terrible Ideas is run by and for people who are passionate about building creative communities. The hackathon was managed by a group of volunteers from Whangarei’s Questionable Research Labs and hosted by Unleash Space, the innovation hub run by the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). Event organiser Zac Miller-Waugh says “Terrible Ideas is a gateway hackathon which is designed to be approachable. Everyone is welcome and people form teams with a wide skill set – some of our teams were entirely code-based, while others used cardboard and vivids! Through taking part in this experience, we hope participants can have fun, make friends, flex their creativity and develop their technical confidence.”
Some of the terrible ideas generated and prototyped included a karaoke machine that created original songs and a mobile robot that could rewrite its own code to make it move better. Hayden Moore, Maker Space Coordinator, said “Seeing the robot interact with ChatGPT to learn and evolve itself was impressive, and frankly terrifying. Another favourite was a group that designed a range of emotionally needy kitchen appliances.” These included a toaster that would only toast bread if you were nice to it, a shy kettle that did not boil when watched and a knife block that screamed when you put a knife in it.
The Terrible Ideas hackathon had 80 participants from a diverse array of backgrounds and study areas. Zac says “We hope to bring it back in 2024 and make it worse than ever.”
Read more about this year’s Terrible Hack from participant Rachel Meadows’ blog
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