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<\/p>\nLONDON \u2013 Ryan Clabot, Matteo Fanfoni and Leonardo Monteforte all had firsthand experience of how the fear of surveillance can discourage users of new technology.<\/p>\n
The three high schoolers met as students navigating AI in education. Their school offered various tools \u2013 including Google\u2019s AI chatbot Gemini \u2013 but despite assurances of anonymity, many students remained suspicious they were being monitored.<\/p>\n
So when they entered a five-day contest hosted by Northeastern University London, they put that experience into action. The AI Futures Challenge aims to have ambitious young talent from around the world tackle real-world problems, such as the one encountered by Lyra AI, a startup at Northeastern London\u2019s startup hub. Lyra AI found that many companies are unaware of how their employees are using AI tools or whether they\u2019re using them at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The three rising seniors developed an interactive onboarding tool that welcomed new hires to an organization, allowed them to discuss how they use AI and get answers to questions about surveillance and other concerns. Their solution, which captured the top prize, is now being integrated into Lyra\u2019s new workforce survey and is due to go live in autumn.<\/p>\n
In addition to the top prize, which comes with a $1,000 scholarship to Northeastern University London, the three were also offered internships with Lyra. They told Northeastern Global News that the experience has exceeded all expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing to be part of something that could have an actual impact on how people view AI,\u201d said Fanfoni.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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How they stood out\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Lyra, working with students was a chance to tap into the first generation of \u201cAI natives,\u201d said co-founder Jason Smith. That term refers to the fact that this rising generation is set to enter the workforce having grown up with AI tools in a way that most CEOs didn\u2019t, and therefore \u201chave a different perspective to using AI and a different perspective on privacy and trust,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As part of the challenge, applicants logged in from across the planet to listen to Northeastern faculty lead a series of webinars, designed to spark new ideas and reflections about their proposed solutions. Tom Williams, assistant professor in Philosophy at Northeastern University London, said students were \u201ctalkative and engaged\u201d in issues including AI-enabled surveillance in the workplace and \u201cwhy this kind of monitoring and surveillance might be troubling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the challenge, the standard of entries was exceptional, said Smith, who judged the competition along with two other Lyra AI executives. \u201cWe were blown away. We were absolutely blown away by what they came up with,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the winners stood out as a full-rounded solution that passed the \u201cfive-second test,\u201d by immediately answering an employee\u2019s most urgent questions. It delivered clear, simple messages that reassured hires, explained Smith, beginning with \u201cCan my manager see this?\u201d \u2013 reassuring them of absolute anonymity, before encouraging them to be open about their AI use, stating \u201cYour manager uses AI too.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In their internships with Lyra AI, the trio is gaining direct insight into how the lessons they learned apply in larger organizations with busy development schedules, while having the chance to develop their contest-winning product further. Lyra has asked the students to test their solution, while the team has worked with Lyra\u2019s chief product officer to develop their system further.<\/p>\n
When Lyra\u2019s product is launched, \u201chopefully in autumn,\u201d it will contain a bit of the team\u2019s inspiration, said Smith. \u201cIt won\u2019t be exactly as what they had suggested in the features challenge, but the spirit of what they did in the features challenge will definitely live on,\u201d said Smith.\u00a0<\/p>\n