You spent the summer learning how AI actually works: statistics, machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI. Now comes the whole point: use it on a problem you actually care about. Pick something real from your home, school, or community. Build an AI solution. Demo it in 3 minutes. Every genius who completed the courses is invited, and preteens team up with a parent.
Sign-up takes one minute. Building takes a glorious two weeks.
A predictor: forecast the light bill, bus delays, farm yields, beach conditions, or shop sales, like your weather and stock models.
A classifier: sort real things into groups, like ripe vs unripe crops from photos, or urgent vs regular messages.
A generative AI helper: a study buddy, a small-business assistant, or a community info bot built with Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT prompts.
A game that teaches: a playable game (preteens: built with your parent and Gemini!) that teaches others something useful.
Something that annoys or hurts people you know: high light bills, guessing hurricane prep, studying for exams, a family shop's stock. Real beats impressive.
What information exists? Past bills, weather history, prices, photos, past papers? If you cannot name the data, reshape the idea until you can. (Generative AI ideas need example prompts and test questions instead.)
Predict a number? Regression or a small neural net. Sort into groups? A classifier. Talk or create? A well-engineered prompt on Gemini or Claude. Use what the course taught you, and say WHY you chose it.
Colab notebooks for models (like your final assignments), or a carefully designed AI assistant, or a game. Small and working beats big and broken. Preteens: your parent is your co-builder.
Put it in front of someone who has the problem. Watch them use it. Write down one thing that worked and one thing you fixed after. Judges LOVE this step.
Structure: the problem (30s), your solution live (90s), what the AI does under the hood (30s), what you would build next (30s). Practise twice. Bring confidence.
Real problem (25): does this matter to actual people in your community?
Working AI (25): does it run, and can you explain what the AI is doing?
Evidence (25): did you test it on a real person and improve it?
The demo (25): clear, honest, and on time. Say what it cannot do yet; judges respect honesty.
Build safe and build honest: no personal data about other people without their consent, no generating real people's faces or voices, disclose exactly where AI helped, and preteens work with a parent or guardian throughout. Teams of 1 to 3 (plus the parent for preteens). You must be signed up below to demo.