THE HOPEFUL FUTURES AI CHALLENGE

The Hopeful Futures AI Challenge is an exhibition challenge inviting young people aged 11-16 from across the UK to imagine the future of AI.

We want to include young voices in the conversation about what our AI enabled future could look like and to imagine the creation of new AI technologies that could help make the future a hopeful place to be.

Led by Northumbria University, the challenge asks teams to imagine that they have been hired by the Global Future Tourism Board to promote what life in 2050 could look like to people living today in 2026. Their task is to create an exciting travel experience that highlights a hopeful future, focusing on one of the following key themes:Environmental futures, Healthcare (including mental health and wellbeing) OR the Future of Learning.Teams are invited to design a ‘travel brochure’ (or blog, social media campaign, video) to invite people from 2026 to visit 2050 and see how AI has made a positive contribution. We will then curate these entries, setting up a virtual exhibition of student work as well as physical exhibitions in the North-East of England, one of which will take the form of a pop-up fictional travel agency.

Launched in December 2025, schools and youth organisations can register for the challenge here. Once registered, you will be directed to a set of downloadable resources to help teams get started. Teams can sign up from 15th December 2025 and the deadline to submit entries will be 4pm on Friday 13th February 2026. The exhibition will be held in March 2026. 

For more information, press interviews contact Project Lead Prof Pam Briggs: p.briggs@northumbria.ac.uk