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Fall 2024 TKEthics Olympiad Results

Here’s a message from Archie Stapleton, co-founder of the Modus Ponens Institute and organizer of the TKEthics Olympiad, congratulating recent winners and announcing several cool spring events. Congrats to all who participated and kudos to MPI for growing in these exciting new directions!

Dear Ethletes and coaches from the TKEthics 2024 Fall Olympiad, 

We want to start by congratulating all of you for participating in an incredible day of ethical discussion! We have heard really positive feedback from judges and spectators about the quality of your argumentation and engagement. You all demonstrated real commitment to ethical discourse, and tackled the problems of AI and technology in an incredibly nuanced and mature way. You can all be extremely proud. 

Here are the results: 

In the Open Division: The Gold Medal is awarded to Pythagoras (Eric Zhang, Michael Xu, Ethni Cajigas, Chase Chong, Stephanie Lee), The Silver Medal is awarded to Diogenes (Middle School team), (Eleanor Kleman, Mia Santos, Dahlia Rodgers, Reya Krishnan, Emilia Henry), The Bronze Medal is awarded to Parfit, (Qinrong (Anny) Qian, Anthony Gong, Eirena Wen, Zhiyuan (Jerry) Jiang). Following closely behind in fourth place was: Hobbes (Chengyin Du, Jingxuan (Jenelle) Zhang, Mutong Zhong, Huahui Chen), and in fifth was Locke (middle school team) (Ruilin Liang, James Loke, Darren Han, Haoxian (Ethan) Wang). 

In the Middle School Division, excluding Diogenes who attained Silver in the open category: Gold Medal is awarded to Locke (Ruilin, James, Darren, Ethan), The Silver Medal is awarded to Socrates (Isaac Zhang, Nina He, Jeason Zhou, Steven Wu, Eason Wei), The Bronze Medal is awarded to Leibniz (Moxi Zhu, Laura Zhang, William Tao). Following closely behind in fourth place was Hume (Jeffery Lian, Zachary J Liu, Kingston Wang, Mia Zhang, Vicky Fei). 

Top International Team team: Aristotle (Olivia Yu, Yishan Gao (Noelle), Winston Ge). 

Finally, we allow judges to submit an “honorable mention” for any team they were particularly impressed by in any given round! These teams received Honorable Mentions throughout the day: Plato (“Xing (Elsa) Gao, Ziyue (Abby) Zhou, Liqian (Eric) Yan, James Chen), Hegel (Derek Hu, Austin Lu, Liam Kim), Hobbes (listed above), Parfit (listed above) and Russel (Angela Yang, Jordan He, Alpha Dong, Angel Shaji, Mushel Khan). 

Congratulations to all teams! Certificates will be sent out to each team within the next week. 

We are also excited to announce that we will host an in person conference on the West Coast of the US for any team mentioned in the above announcements in August 2025, stay tuned! 

If you missed out this time, don’t fret! Another opportunity is around the corner: 

Our next tournament is the spring TKEthics Olympiad on Sunday, March 1st, and is now open for registration! This will also allow you to qualify for our in person conference. 

After that is the Pan American Ethics Olympiad! This is the program with an Eastern Round on Saturday, April 26th at 9am EST, a Western Round on Saturday, May 3rd at 9am PST, and the

Pan Am Final on Saturday, May 17th, 2025 also at 9am PST. Register here. The winners of this event will be eligible for the International Ethics Olympiad Final held in July (10am East Coast Australia time), with hundreds of teams from all over the world. 

Kind regards, 

The MPI and TKEthics Olympiad Organizing Committee

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2024-2025 NHSEB Regional Case 3 It Tastes Like Dog Food Study Guide with Bonus AI Script Experiments

Here’s a really nice study guide from Coach Michael Andersen with two superb generative AI experiments on the case, as well as a bonus guide on evaluating sources on controversial topics.

Mr. A is going above and beyond per usual! And I think the generative AI engagement stuff is especially cool. Give his strategies a try with other cases and let us know what’s working, what isn’t, etc.

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Global Ethics Olympiad Call for Judges and Teams

We’re behind schedule on a new NHSEB case pool analysis or two. But first, friend Archie Stapleton, co-founder and director of the Modus Ponens Institute, recently shared the below call for qualified judges and student competitors for the upcoming 2024 Global Ethics Olympiad. Open to all students anywhere in the world grades 6-12, check it out and email panamethics@modusponensinstitute.com with questions.

We are excited to invite you to the Fall TKEthics Global Olympiad on November 30, 2024, hosted by the Modus Ponens Institute. This virtual event, running from 6 PM to 11:30 PM EST, brings together students from grades 6-12 to discuss real-world ethical challenges.

This year’s Olympiad features 8 cases, with half focusing on the ethical implications of technology and artificial intelligence. These timely topics will challenge students to explore pressing questions on the role of AI in society—from privacy concerns to the future of AI-human relationships. The Olympiad provides a platform for students to showcase their ethical reasoning and public speaking skills, engaging in respectful, solution-driven discussions.

We Need Qualified Judges
We are seeking qualified judges with a background in philosophy, ethics, or related fields to help evaluate the students’ performances. If you have experience in ethical discourse and would like to contribute, we encourage you to apply. Judges will play a key role in maintaining the high intellectual standard of the competition, helping to assess the students’ arguments and their ability to engage in thoughtful dialogue.

Coaching for Students
Students looking to compete can also receive expert coaching from our renowned trainers, Archie Stapleton and Zach Bloom, who have coached the winners of the 2021, 2022, and 2024 International Ethics Olympiads. Our coaching sessions are designed to enhance critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and presentation skills, ensuring that students are fully prepared for the competition.

Upcoming Tournaments
The Fall Ethics Olympiad will be followed by a Spring Tournament in March 2025. Details for the Finals are yet to be announced, but we are planning for a possible in-person event in California, with prizes for the winning teams!

Join Us!
If you’re a qualified judge interested in participating or a student eager to compete, register now through the link below. For more details, you can also check out the attached invitation, or contact us directly at panamethics@modusponensinstitute.com.

Register Here!

The invitation is attached below!