Responsible AI for Youth 2022 - A National Program for School Students

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fast becoming a part of all our lives, yet the number of people who understand AI as a technology is limited. With an aim to address this growing skills gap, build digital readiness among the next-generation, and continue the momentum of the inclusive and collaborative AI Skilling program initiated in 2020, National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India, has launched the innovation challenge every youngster was waiting for, the ‘YUVAi- Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI’ program.

As students today will be the change makers of tomorrow, we need to empower them with the tools, resources and opportunities to learn new skills and prepare for the future workforce. A skilled and competent workforce is the foundation for the growth of any nation and industry in the digital era. An AI-driven economy requires a new and inclusive approach to build capacities of our youth.

‘YUVAi’ is aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of AI, to equip school students from classes 8th to 12th across the nation with AI skills, and empower them to become human-centric designers and users of AI. The program offers an applied learning experience for students to understand and identify how AI technology can be used to tackle critical problems and lead to inclusive development of the nation.

The program in its last iteration (Responsible AI for Youth) offered select students, the opportunity to travel to Gandhinagar, Gujarat to interact with and showcase their solutions to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi at the Digital India Week 2022. As a part of the program, 20 students from all across the country also got the opportunity to travel to Delhi to interact with and present their work to Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Railways and Communications and Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and IT and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

If you are a school student studying in classes 8 to 12, excited to broaden your understanding of AI technology and get a chance to learn with the brightest minds from across the country, register for the ‘YUVAi: Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI’ program. 
The objectives of YUVAi are to :

1. Foster a deeper understanding of AI-tech and social skills
2. Enable youth to develop AI-enabled solutions as a sign of achievement
3. Empower youth to become human-centric designers and users of AI

Pre-requisites

The learning path for AI ideation and development may seem steep and complex, but good news, there are no pre-requisites!

The ‘YUVAi’ Program, through its mentors and coaches, takes you by the hand and walks you through each part of the process step-by-step, so that you can learn about AI without any prior knowledge or experience.

An inquisitive mind is all you need to begin your AI journey!

Program Overview

The program will be conducted in three phases

PHASE I

1. Teachers will be on-boarded for the program through self-nomination here
2. Teachers to be nominated per State/UT as per below:
   • 10+ Teachers to be nominated from States/UT with less than 20 districts
   • 15+ Teachers to be nominated from States/UT with 20-40 districts
   •  20+ Teachers to be nominated from States/UT with more than 40 districts
3. Teachers will be oriented to provide an overview of the program and their roles and responsibilities. The session details will be shared in advance.
4. Each nominated teacher will identify students from their respective schools and share their details with the organizing team. Additionally, students can self-register by clicking on ‘Participate now (for Student)’.
5. Online orientation sessions will be conducted for registered students around core AI concepts by experts to facilitate understanding about the ideation process.
6. ‘Certificate of Participation’ will be available for students to download through program web portal post completion of the online orientation.
7. Students will be encouraged to submit ideas (individually or in teams of 2) through a 120-second video explaining a proposed AI enabled solution for any one of the eight core themes:-
   • Krishi – AI in Agriculture
   • Aarogya – AI in Healthcare
   • Shiksha – AI in Education
   • Paryavaran – AI in environment & clean energy
   • Parivahan – AI in transportation
   • Grameen Vikas – AI for Rural Development
   • AI for Smart Cities
   • Vidhi aur Nyaay - AI in Law & Justice
8. Students will be able to download their ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ through program web portal post successful idea submission.
9. Top AI-based solutions from amongst the proposed ones will be evaluated for the next phase by an independent committee of experts.

PHASE II

1. Shortlisted students will attend online deep dive AI training
2. A 3 day face-to-face boot camp will be organized to provide adequate mentorship and guidance by YUVAi coaches.
3. After the mentorship camps, students will use this newly gained knowledge to develop AI-enabled innovations/projects on any one of the eight core themes and submit final entries.
4. Top projects will be shortlisted post evaluation by an expert jury.

 

Phase III

1. Students will be provided with apprenticeship and guidance opportunity on IPR
2. The most innovative AI-based solutions will be announced and invited to a national showcase and felicitation ceremony
3. Students will be awarded with exclusive awards in the following categories:
   • Most inclusive project award
   • Most futuristic project award
   • Most sustainable project award

Teacher Selection Criteria

1. If you are a teacher, you can self-nominate yourself for the program by clicking here
2. You can apply/ get selected for this program if you:
   • Are a teacher in any school
   • Have experience of teaching students from Grades 8 and higher
   • Are Tech-savvy and skilled at using internet as a teaching resource
   • ​Are enthusiastic to learn new technology and willing to mentor students
   • Engage in co-curricular or extra-curricular activities in school
   • Use mass media tools for interactive teaching
   • Have mentorship and leadership abilities

Project Timeline

Rewards

Students

1. A ‘Certificate of Participation’ will be awarded to all students who attend the Orientation sessions.
2. Upon a successful idea submission, students will be awarded a Certificate of Appreciation.
3. Students shortlisted for Phase 2 will be provided a Training Participation Certificate on completion of the Deep Dive AI Training.
4. An opportunity for selected students to showcase solutions at various levels to senior government officials and industry representatives.

Schools:

1. Schools actively supporting bulk registrations, providing infrastructure, digital hardware etc., will be recognized for their efforts.

Support

For any queries, you may write to us at ncsupport@digitalindia.gov.in or call on helpline number at +91-9964600800 (9 AM to 8 PM; Monday to Friday)

FAQs

1. Will the students need to pay any fee/charge to be part of this program?

   No. There is no fee/ charge for teachers and/or students to register for the program.

2. What is ‘YUVAi’ about?

   The National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, in collaboration with its partners, has launched ‘YUVAi: Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI’- A National Program for School Students with the objective of enabling school students from classes 8th to 12th with AI tech and social skills in an inclusive manner. The program will provide a platform for youth to learn and apply AI skills and be empowered to develop meaningful social impact solutions.

3. Who can participate in this National program?

   Students from pan-India studying in classes 8th to 12th from any State/UT of India are eligible to participate.

4. Can ideas be submitted as team of students?

   The YUVAi program takes a collaborative approach towards learning, problem identification, and finding solutions. Accordingly, students may participate individually or in teams of 2 for this program.

5. How to join the online orientation sessions?

   The online orientation is divided into 2 sessions of 2 hours each. Upon registration you will receive the online orientation session details such as the Session Title, Date, Time, and Link to join orientation session on the mail ID provided. You can access the details by logging in to the student dashboard at https://innovateindia.mygov.in/yuvai/.  You may also directly reach out to your teacher/ school to facilitate the same.

6. Are there any prerequisites before I join this program?

   Access to a smart phone or computer with good internet connectivity will be good to go along with an interest to learn something new.

7. Why should students participate in this program?
   • Get access to new and cool ways to apply and learn about new and emerging technologies that will revolutionize industries in the near future.
   • Learn global curriculum on AI designed by experts to identify the best learning options to kick-start your AI journey.
   • Acquire social and critical thinking abilities as well as practical experience through mentored AI projects.
   • Get access to MeitY GENESIS (Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups) — a national deep-tech startup program to nurture your innovative ideas.
   • Explore apprenticeship and IPR opportunities to further your learnings and build innovative solutions.
   • Build your network through exposure to learn AI from experienced AI coaches and get a platform to share and collaborate with students of your age-group from across India.
   • Win certificates, get an opportunity to participate in showcases at various levels and be felicitated at the highest level for your innovative solutions leveraging AI. Visit here to know more - https://innovateindia.mygov.in/yuvai/
8. How can I register?
   1. Click on Participate Here (for Student).
   2. Create your log in credentials.
   3. Fill in the Registration form and click on Submit Now
   4. Remember, the competition is open to school students from classes 8 to 12.
   5. Students can submit their responses to any one of the themes provided to them
9. How can I Participate through the Teacher’s Login:
   1. ‘Participate Here (for Teacher)' may be selected by teachers to login and enable their students, who don't have access to internet or email ID or mobile number, for participating in YUVAi.
   2. A teacher may login and enable one or more students by submitting the correct student details and their entries.
   3. Upon clicking the submit tab, teachers will be able to view the status of all submissions made by him/her.
10. What are the thematic areas ?

    The students need to submit their ideas under 8 pre decided themes.

    1. कृषि – AI in Agriculture
       • Utilize AI to manage and handle agricultural output and improve India's primary sector of agriculture
    2. आरोग्य – AI in Healthcare
       • Innovate with AI for medical research, patient care and diagnosis, healthcare system automation, and related fields
    3. शिक्षा – AI in Education
       • Engage your imagination to find AI solutions to address learning in digital age, education management, assessment, and learner-centric fields
    4. पर्यावरण – AI in environment & clean energy
       • Develop solutions based on AI to protect and conserve environment and for the adoption of renewable energy sources
    5. परिवहन – AI in transportation
       • Use AI to ease the increasing strain on the transportation systems and networks, logistic infrastructure, accident prevention, intelligent traffic management and more
    6. ग्रामीण विकास – AI for Rural Development
       • Use AI to promote sustainable and inclusive growth of rural India through solutions aimed at poverty eradication, employment generation, delivery of social security benefits, development of growth infrastructure etc.
    7. स्मार्ट शहर – AI for Smart Cities
       • Utilize AI to promote sustainable and inclusive cities that give a decent quality of life, a clean and sustainable environment through application of some smart solutions such as smart waste management, intelligent lighting systems etc.
    8. विधि एवं न्याय – AI in Law & Justice
       • Utilize AI to promote responsibility, transparency, efficiency and accessibility of the law and justice system.