April 21st 2026 update: Recruitment is now closed for AI Youth Ambassadors 2026!

The AI Youth Ambassadorship program is an annual two-week program for summer voucher workers (15-17-year-olds) in Oulu run by the INTERACT Research group in Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at the University of Oulu together with their collaborators, such as Information Studies unit in Faculty of Humanities. 

The program has been running since June 2023 (with 12 students), June 2024 (24 students), June 2025 (42 students), and June 2026 (28 students).

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, AI in social media, and AI and business. They might also work with digital fabrication technologies, e.g., in BusinessAsema or University FabLab, or work with some other more technical tasks. Working in small teams, they experiment, deliberate, and create content and materials for learning themselves as well as for sharing information on AI and its impact on the youth - such as themselves, their friends, and their peers. 

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).

After participating the program: As AI Youth Ambassadors, students will have capabilities to critically examine AI (and other technology) use in everyday life in the society, and share their learnings with others. 

During the next academic year after the program, students are encouraged to conduct one event, like a presentation or performance, for example at their school to share their learning about AI's impact on youth, supported by researchers. 

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

History of the program and links to research: The program was started in 2023 as part of the INTERACT Research Group researchers' long-term interest and work on educating children and young people about different facets of digital technology design and use in the technology-rich everyday life as well as linked to our ongoing projects at the time (e.g. PAIZ project, see below). 

The program contents are linked with our own and our collaborators' current research topics and thus mirror what we see as currently relevant and important topics to address with young people

The program is related to several past and ongoing projects at the INTERACT Research Group (newest projects at the top):