Saanvi Chouraria has become the youngest person to successfully finish an internship in Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Oxford. The seven-year-old schoolgirl from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) was shortlisted for the six-week programme in October.
The course was a collaboration between the University of Oxford and Clevered, the latter being an organization that provides learning programmes in emerging technologies and structured mentorship solutions. Over the course of her internship, Saanvi produced a project aimed at making the internet easier to use for those who can’t type.
“AI can make a difference to the world, so I have built a Wikipedia-based project for people who can’t type. They can just speak the word they want to search about and the AI engine works to give them the result,” Saanvi told Khaleej Times.
The young computer scientist’s aptitude has stunned educators the world over including her tutors at Oxford and Clevered.
Ken Kahn, senior researcher at the University of Oxford, commented, “In the last six months, we have had more than 55 students qualify for the internship programme. Saanvi, the youngest student ever to qualify for the programme, took me by surprise.”
Shiksha Kohli, the business head at Clevered, lauded Saanvi’s presence of mind: ” The young champ could have chosen a game but she chose to make a difference… She created ‘Wikipedia for Special’, which shows how much critical thinking and problem-solving skills she has honed while learning to code.”
Saanvi was introduced to computing, coding, and AI last year during the UAE’s stay-at-home order. Her parents Annu and Abhishek expressed a desire to familiarise their daughter with the digital world early.
“Saanvi is a very logical-minded and inquisitive kid. We thought of introducing her to the world of AI as we knew that it would be among the most sought-after skills in future,” Annu noted.
Saanvi has also finished a certification in coding with Google.
Image Copyright: CC 3.0 – Jacobs School of Engineering, UC San Diego