News: Recruitment is now open for AI Youth Ambassadors 2026! There are two projects (12 positions in each project). To apply, please submit your CV and a short statement on why you are interested in the program using this application form: https://tinyurl.com/2026ambassador

Applications are processed every two weeks till positions are filled – currently we have all 24 positions available (last updated on Feb 24^th 2026).

The AI Youth Ambassadorship program is an annual two-week program for summer voucher workers (teenagers) in Oulu run by the INTERACT Research Unit and Information Studies unit, at the University of Oulu. In this program, students are introduced various topics related to AI in their everyday life and ethical AI futures, including Generative AI, Emotional AI, Critical Data Literacy, Sustainable AI, and AI in Social Media. They also work with digital fabrication technologies, e.g., in BusinessAsema or University FabLab. Working in small teams, they create content and materials for sharing information on AI and its impact on the youth - such as themselves, their friends, and their peers. For the next academic year, as AI Youth Ambassadors, students are encouraged to conduct one event, like a presentation or performance, at their school to share their learning about AI's impact on youth.

AI Youth Ambassadors also post about their work and activities to their social media accounts (including Insta: @aiambassadors).

The program has been running since June 2023 (with 12 students), in 2024 (with 24 students) and in 2025 (with 42 students).

The program is related to several ongoing (and past) projects at the INTERACT Research Unit and Information Studies unit:

• Participatory AI with School children (PAIZ) project funded by the Academy of Finland (2021-2024) Project PI: Sumita Sharma, (Project webpage).

• Artificial intelligence mediating the everyday information practices of young people (AIM) funded by the Kone Foundation. Project PI: Noora Hirvonen, Researchers Aira Huttunen, Tuula Nygård, Tuulikki Alamettälä, Ville Jylhä, Yucong Lao.

• FutuProta project on young people as future design protagonists funded by the Academy of FInland (2022-2026). Project PI Marianne Kinnula, Researchers Leena Ventä-Olkkonen, Heidi Hartikainen, Behnaz Norouzi, (Project webpage)

• GenZ-project, a strategic profiling project in human sciences at the University of Oulu, supported by the Academy of Finland and the University of Oulu. Project contact: Marianne Kinnula, (Project Webpage).

• Critical Changelab project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (2023-2026). Project PIs Eva Durall, Marianne Kinnula, and Heidi Hartikainen, Doctoral researcher Yusra Niaz, (Project webpage).

• Critical DataLit project funded by Research Council of Finland (2023-2027). Project PI is PIs Eva Durall, Doctoral researcher Najme Babai, (Project webpage).

• TAKEOVER project funded by the Research Council of Finland (2024-2028). Project PI Netta Iivari, Researchers Sumita Sharma, Leena Ventä-Olkkonen, Heidi Hartikainen, Ruut Tikkanen

• Make-Believe or AI Besties: Explorations of Children’s Interactions with AI-Agents Across Cultures (Besties) project funded by the Hybrid Intelligence New Research Initiative (Mar - Dec 2025). Project PIs: Sumita Sharma, Henna Tiensuu, Megumi Iwata, and Yucong Lao, (Project webpage).

• Age Against the Machine: Envisioning Ethical Technology Futures with Children (ATOM) project funded by the Academy of Finland (2021-2024) Project PI Sumita Sharma and PhD researcher Pauli Klemettilä, (Project webpage).

This program is also a part of the Special Interest Group on Children and AI at FCAI (Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence) and the AI-Educate initiative by Women in AI in Finland. 

Outcomes of the 2023 program were presented at AI day 2023 at Aalto, Helsinki (poster).