Sheraa hosts first ChatGPT hackathon

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

With the objective of leveraging the power of ChatGPT and exploring its potential for driving innovation within their respective fields, Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) organized a one-day hackathon in the UAE. The event brought together a diverse group of 80 individuals from various industries, including artists, educators, developers, entrepreneurs and environmentalists.

The hackathon is part of SEF Bytes, a community-driven initiative under the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival (SEF), that has been designed to create community touchpoints all year round by engaging people in byte-sized events on a wide range of topics. From resilience to NFTs and retail’s future, SEF Bytes brings inspiration and learning to each event.

Under the theme of industry transformation, the hackathon featured five distinct tracks, each focusing on a specific sector. These tracks included the creative economy, sustainability, education, retail and F&B, and travel & hospitality. With the participation of 4-6 teams per track, the competition was fierce as teams vied for the coveted winning positions.

Participants had the choice of either presenting an innovative concept or developing a software solution integrating ChatGPT to address industry-specific challenges. In the concept category, teams showcased a clear problem statement, demonstrated how ChatGPT could be utilized to address the issue, and highlighted the potential impact of their solutions. In the software category, teams impressed the judges with their functioning prototypes, displaying seamless integration of ChatGPT to tackle industry-specific obstacles.

The judging criteria focused on innovation, creativity, effective utilization of ChatGPT, feasibility, and the potential impact on the respective industries. The hackathon fostered an atmosphere of collaboration, ideation, and technological breakthroughs.

The three winners of the hackathon, who will go on to develop their solutions with Sheraa’s support, presented the following innovations using ChatGPT: