![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pageone.zyndk8.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/20250826-PAGEONExFilipino-Student-Wins-Big-In-Southeast-Asias-AI-Contest-FI-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStarted with games, ended with glory\u2014Blix Foryasen, a 4th-year computer science student from National University, won first place at the AWS AI League, a big regional competition on artificial intelligence (AI) held in Singapore. Over 1,300 students from across Southeast Asia joined, but Blix came out on top.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was in Singapore, I felt like I was carrying the hopes of other young Filipino tech talents,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
Representing the Philippines wasn’t easy for him. As a child, he didn\u2019t even own a computer. Blix started learning in internet caf\u00e9s, where he spent most of his time watching his older siblings play, and with that scenario, that’s where his curiosity started to open\u2014 not just in playing games, but in how they actually worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cGamer na talaga ako when I was a kid. \u2018Yung mga kapatid ko dinadala ako sa comp shop kahit patago,\u201d he shared. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Even though he was interested in tech, his family didn\u2019t really support that path and hoped he would take a practical career. \u201cThough I wanted to explore or code as early as possible, \u2018di ko magawa kasi \u2018di naman ako tech expert… Well, at least sa culture ng family ko,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Things changed when he got to college. \u201cThanks to college, parang I was able to heal my inner child. I finally had the equipment to explore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The AWS AI League was tough, and it wasn’t just about coding; it was also about how students used AI in real-life problems. Blix noticed an important thing, such as how important human judgment is, even with smart AI tools.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeron talagang importance \u2018yung human oversight in terms of accuracy of our models. We\u2019re already in the age of agentic AI, but human oversight is important. Humans need to make sure if there\u2019s bias,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also found that the AI system doesn’t always give him the best score, but the human judges recognized the strength of his work and that effort matters indeed\u2014and named him the overall champion.<\/p>\n
Now that the contest is over in Singapore, Blix wants to focus on something even bigger\u2014 helping others. He hopes to guide younger students, share what he\u2019s learned, and build a stronger AI community in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be pushing through if ever there will be a grand final as AWS re:Invent,\u201d he said. \u201cBut personally, I\u2019d focus more on community building as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blix believes the Philippines has world-class tech talent. The challenge is access and visibility. \u201cThe PH tech talent we have can compete with other ASEAN countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and possibly also on the global stage when it comes to AI and tech.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Blix wants to focus on his studies and explore whether through research, internships, or even business \u2014 anywhere he can use AI to make real change.<\/p>\n
\u201cI advocate for AI. For good and responsible AI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Blix\u2019s story is proof that success doesn\u2019t depend on where you start but on your passion \u2014 and your willingness to help others grow with you.<\/p>\n
Kampyonado ang batang dati’y nanonood lang sa comshop \u2014 ngayo’y wagi sa AI League ng Southeast Asia!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-great-filipino-story"],"pageone_source":{"pageone_source":"","author_name":"PAGEONE Online Network"},"_pageone_source":"","zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":{"nxtgen_comments":[{"665":"sarap ng feeling nito \ud83e\udd79\r","666":"game on ph \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\udded\r","667":"supporting you always \ud83d\udda4\r","668":"ai legend ph \ud83d\ude0d\r","669":"game to glory \ud83d\ude0d\r"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dynamic-silver-sheep.82-197-71-20.cpanel.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}