Call for Submission: Sci-fAI Futures Youth Challenge (Up to $500 Funding)

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The Office for Disarmament Affairs is launching the Sci-fAI Futures Youth Challenge to spark young people’s interest and imagination on how AI can affect international peace and security, particularly in the military domain.

Launched in celebration of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, Sci-fAI Futures invites young people to explore possible futures around the opportunities to leverage AI for good and the risks of integrating AI in the military domain. Their story will take place in the year 2145, two hundred years after the United Nations came into existence.

As States discuss these issues within multilateral forums, the challenge is the opportunity for young voices to influence the debate through creative means and frame military AI through the lens of their hopes and concerns. Entering Sci-fAI Futures means entering a timely, global conversation to craft their own safe AI future.

Sci-fAI Futures Youth Challenge Themes

Armed Conflict & Conflict Resolution:
- How can artificial intelligence be integrated into the battlefield in the future? Would its integration cause more harm than good, or vice versa?
- How can it be employed to mediate conflicts, mitigate violence, and facilitate peaceful resolutions?
Human-centered Approaches to Disarmament:
- What will the human-centered approach to the design, development and use of AI applications mean in the future? What will human oversight and accountability look like in an era of advanced AI techniques integrated into the military domain? What technological solutions can enhance the delivery of humanitarian aid to crisis-stricken regions, as well as support the protection of human rights in peacetime and in times of armed conflict?
Responsible Innovation
- What role can researchers, innovators, designers, and individuals at large play in safeguarding the use of artificial intelligence in the military domain to mitigate risks?

Award Information

8 winners will receive an all-included invitation to present their vision at the Responsible AI in the Military Domain Summit (REAIM 2024) in Seoul, including flights and accommodation.
Winners will also receive an additional monetary reward of:
- $500 for first-place winners (4)
- $250 for honorable prize winners (4)
The winners will be publicly announced around International Youth Day, 12 August 2024.

Mode of Entry for Sci-fAI Futures Youth Challenge

Written Story: A science-fiction story of up to 2145 words.
Visual Story: A comic-style graphic novel of up to six pages, in color or in black-and-white, digital or analog.

Eligibility Criteria for Sci-fAI Futures Youth Challenge

The challenge will be open to young people worldwide between the ages of 13 and 29. Individual and group submissions will be welcomed in two age groups: 13 to 20 (high school and lower college) and 21 to 29 years (early career professionals). Winners will be selected from both categories.
Group submissions are allowed and encouraged. Each group will indicate a ‘primary author’ who will serve as a focal point for the group and will be the official recipient of the rewards if the group entry is selected among the winners, including traveling to Korea and the monetary reward. While we suggest that the reward amount is split amongst entrants, the final decision rests with the primary author indicated in the submission.