On November 16-17, the Institute of Smart System and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI) co-organized its first GenAI hackathon with ACM@NU, and the SIT Foundation, offering early access to its generative AI models, Soyle App and ISSAI KAZ-LLM, via APIs. Seventy students from Nazarbayev University participated, using these locally developed AI tools to create innovative projects. The hackathon aimed to empower students and the broader IT community to explore AI’s potential while promoting the use of the Kazakh language.
Participants integrated the Soyle App and KAZ-LLM into their projects, with teams evaluated not only on innovation and real-world applicability but also on their feedback to ISSAI’s APIs and models. This feedback loop provided ISSAI with valuable insights for future improvements.
Projects ranged from a mobile avatar app for teaching Kazakh history, language learning apps, and an AI assistant for legal matters, to edge computing for tourism, a chatbot bridging language barriers, and a note-taking app. Fifteen teams presented their solutions, with 13 integrating both models. The top three winners stood out: Казачи Капай took first place with an AI platform for learning and evaluating Kazakh, using both Soyle and KAZ-LLM. Second place went to Wombats for a mobile avatar assistant that allows users to converse with historical Kazakh figures like Kanysh Satpayev and Abay Kunanbayev, utilizing both models. Third place went to Ziyali, who created a platform for Kazakh content creators to dub and subtitle short-form videos, using only Soyle.
The event allowed students to join ISSAI research teams or launch their startups. This hackathon is part of ISSAI’s mission to foster innovation, promote the Kazakh language, and apply AI to real-world industry challenges, with more events planned for the future. We greatly appreciate the guidance and financial support of the SIT Foundation and the exceptional organizational efforts of the ACM@NU in making this event a success.