Play Smart with AI: UNESCO supports media and information literacy youth hackathon in China

Organized under the theme, Play Smart with AI: Think Smarter, Create Better with Media and Information Literacy , the hackathon promotes key MIL competencies, such as questioning information, identifying bias, understanding how AI-generated content is produced and making informed decisions in digital environments. It contributes to UNESCO's mandate to advance media and information literacy through informal learning.

The call for projects is structured around four thematic tracks:

• Primary level (U12): "My AI Super Assistant", focusing on creative human-AI interaction;
• Lower secondary (U15): "My AI Pitfall Guide", promoting factchecking, verification and digital resilience;
• Upper secondary (U18): "AI for Social Good", encouraging youth-led solutions aligned with sustainable development and positive social impact;
• International and bilingual track: A global dialogue component inviting English-language video submissions on AI governance, ethics and cross-cultural perspectives.

Yugui Culture, the implementing partner in China, is an organization working in collaboration with schools, universities and other national stakeholders, including the Shanghai Education Development Foundation, the Shanghai Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Foundation, and the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Research Institute. It provides various mentoring opportunities from experts to support participants through the ideation and submission process. Selected participants will have the opportunity to present their projects at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.