Swiss AI Challenge

AI Challenge – Bringing Your Own Idea to Life with AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) has long been a part of our daily lives, whether in search engines, translation services, or image generation. With the hype around ChatGPT, many people are now actively using AI tools. But what exactly is behind this technology?

The AI Challenge aims to provide young people aged 13 to 19 in Switzerland with an accessible and practical introduction to this important topic of the future. The project offers young people the chance to engage with AI, regardless of their academic performance or prior knowledge.

A free online course provides fundamental knowledge about AI while encouraging critical thinking: How does AI work? Is it really something new? Where do we encounter it in everyday life? What opportunities and challenges does it bring?

The focus then shifts to their own AI project. Alone or in teams of up to four, young people can implement their own idea with the help of AI. They are supported by doctoral students from the ETH AI Center. The practical implementation clearly shows everything that is needed to develop AI, and how, as a developer, you bear responsibility for what you create.

This initiative is about much more than just technical knowledge: it aims to foster creativity, teamwork, solution-oriented work, and curiosity.

The project is carried out by the ETH AI Center in collaboration with the cantons of Zurich, Schwyz, and Zug. It is supported by the Hirschmann Foundation, Hasler Foundation, and Ernst Göhner Foundation.

Photos: Andreas Eggenberger