Manyanet Sant Andreu School wins the Secondary and Upper Secondary School Debate League at the UAB
The Escola Manyanet Sant Andreu (Barcelona) won the local phase of the debate league for Secondary and Upper Secondary Schools of the Vives Network of Universities, which took place at the UAB from 19 to 23 February and included the participation of 16 education centres from the Vallès and Barcelona region. The teams debated on whether AI is a menace to society. The final competition took place on Friday 23 February ad the winning team went up against the other finalist, the Institut Torre de Malla (Parets del Vallès).
The winner will represent the UAB in the final phase against other universities from 17 to 19 April at the University Jaume I in Castelló de la Plana.
The semifinal was starred by the Institut Torre de Malla (Parets de Vallès) and the Escola Manyanet Sant Andreu (Barcelona) under the question: "Is artificial intelligence a threat to humanity? A controversial and topical issue in which the two semifinalists had to defend both the partisan position and the opposite position.
The debate began with the Escola Manyanet Sant Andreu, which had to argue that it was against artificial intelligence being a threat to humans. They claimed that AI is a problem solver, i.e. a tool that helps humanity to fight against problems such as misinformation and hunger, helping and benefiting human progress through advances in economics and biology. Emphasising the idea that there are currently more important threats and dangers than artificial intelligence. In any case it would be a threat to human beings due to malpractice.
In contrast, the Torre de Malla Institute presented itself through photographs created by artificial intelligence of itself simulating the style of the works of the painter Van Gogh, thus confirming its first argument: AI does not respect the process of artistic creation. In addition, they claimed that it generates social and emotional problems, thus affecting the relationship between people. Their last argument referred to the fake news that can be easily created in a very real way, and that can become very dangerous without any kind of control.
The jury, formed by UAB Vice Rector of Alumni and Employability Anabel Galán, Silvia Altafaja Ninguno of the Office of Engagement and Community of the UAB, and Xenia Porterias as a member of argumentation and debate of the UAB, proclaimed the Manyanet Sant Andreu School the winner of this local phase. The jury highlighted the skills, teamwork, the strength of the argumentation, the fluency of the interventions and the quality of the speech. They also awarded the prize for the best speaker to the student Laia Farràs, from Escola Pia Caldes.
The Escola Manyanet Sant Andreu already won this same competition two years ago, in 2022, while in last year's edition it was the Creixen Terrassa team that came first.The winners will represent the UAB in the final phase of the Vives Network Secondary and Upper Secondary Debate League, which will take place from 17 to 19 April 2024 at the University Jaume I in Castellón de la Plana, where they will face the 15 teams classified in the previous local phases.
For more information on the final phases of the debate, please click here.