FAIR: Framing AIs Role in Programming Competitions -- Understanding How LLMs Are Changing the Game in Competitive Programming

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pan, Dongyijie Primo, Luo, Lan, Zhu, Ji, Gao, Zhiqi, Tong, Xin, Hui, Pan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866912883652165632
author Pan, Dongyijie Primo
Luo, Lan
Zhu, Ji
Gao, Zhiqi
Tong, Xin
Hui, Pan
author_facet Pan, Dongyijie Primo
Luo, Lan
Zhu, Ji
Gao, Zhiqi
Tong, Xin
Hui, Pan
contents This paper investigates how large language models (LLMs) are reshaping competitive programming. The field functions as an intellectual contest within computer science education and is marked by rapid iteration, real-time feedback, transparent solutions, and strict integrity norms. Prior work has evaluated LLMs performance on contest problems, but little is known about how human stakeholders -- contestants, problem setters, coaches, and platform stewards -- are adapting their workflows and contest norms under LLMs-induced shifts. At the same time, rising AI-assisted misuse and inconsistent governance expose urgent gaps in sustaining fairness and credibility. Drawing on 37 interviews spanning all four roles and a global survey of 207 contestants, as well as an API-based crawl of Codeforces contest logs (2022-2025) for quantitative analysis, we contribute: (i) an empirical account of evolving workflows, (ii) an analysis of contested fairness norms, and (iii) a chess-inspired governance approach with actionable measures -- real-time LLMs checks in online contests, peer co-monitoring and reporting, and cross-validation against offline performance -- to curb LLMs-assisted misuse while preserving fairness, transparency, and credibility.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_15867
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle FAIR: Framing AIs Role in Programming Competitions -- Understanding How LLMs Are Changing the Game in Competitive Programming
Pan, Dongyijie Primo
Luo, Lan
Zhu, Ji
Gao, Zhiqi
Tong, Xin
Hui, Pan
Human-Computer Interaction
This paper investigates how large language models (LLMs) are reshaping competitive programming. The field functions as an intellectual contest within computer science education and is marked by rapid iteration, real-time feedback, transparent solutions, and strict integrity norms. Prior work has evaluated LLMs performance on contest problems, but little is known about how human stakeholders -- contestants, problem setters, coaches, and platform stewards -- are adapting their workflows and contest norms under LLMs-induced shifts. At the same time, rising AI-assisted misuse and inconsistent governance expose urgent gaps in sustaining fairness and credibility. Drawing on 37 interviews spanning all four roles and a global survey of 207 contestants, as well as an API-based crawl of Codeforces contest logs (2022-2025) for quantitative analysis, we contribute: (i) an empirical account of evolving workflows, (ii) an analysis of contested fairness norms, and (iii) a chess-inspired governance approach with actionable measures -- real-time LLMs checks in online contests, peer co-monitoring and reporting, and cross-validation against offline performance -- to curb LLMs-assisted misuse while preserving fairness, transparency, and credibility.
title FAIR: Framing AIs Role in Programming Competitions -- Understanding How LLMs Are Changing the Game in Competitive Programming
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15867