Transforming AI: Building AI with Agency
2023-Present
A youth-powered initiative that equips young people to question, understand, reimagine, and build AI that reflects their values and serves their communities.
Why Transforming AI
Artificial intelligence is already shaping how we learn, work, communicate, and imagine our futures. Yet the systems influencing these decisions are still built by a narrow group, often without the voices, experiences, or values of the communities most affected.
Transforming AI exists because this is not inevitable. AI reflects human choices, priorities, and assumptions. If young people are not included in shaping it, they are shaped by it.
At Innovators for Purpose, we believe young people, especially those from underrecognized communities, deserve agency in the technologies shaping their lives. Transforming AI centers youth as thinkers, creators, and leaders in building a more just and inclusive AI future.
"Our growing agitation over bias, lack of diversity, and unequal access in AI compels us to demand change; this technology is too crucial to our future for it to remain flawed."
- iFp Emerging Innovators
Our Approach
Transforming AI is grounded in a simple but powerful framework that can be applied to AI and beyond. Students learn to slow down, ask better questions, and move from awareness to action.
QUESTION IT
Who benefits? Who’s left out?
Students examine who AI systems serve, who is excluded, and whose voices are missing. This step builds critical awareness of power, impact, and inequity, helping students see AI as something designed by people—not a neutral force.
UNDERSTAND IT
Why is it this way?
Students dig into how AI systems work and why they produce the outcomes they do. Through hands-on exploration, they uncover the data, assumptions, incentives, and decisions behind AI, revealing how bias enters systems and why inequities persist.
REIMAGINE IT
Imagine what should be different
This is a space for creativity and exploration. Students design, prototype, and test ideas that reflect their values and community needs. Reimagining allows young people to experiment, iterate, and envision alternatives before committing to a solution.
BUILD IT
Bring new-to-the-world ideas to life
Students move from ideas to action. They implement their work in real contexts through tools, experiences, or policy proposals and take responsibility for what they create. Building emphasizes follow-through, impact, and learning from real-world use.
STUDENT LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
Transforming AI comes to life through student-led projects that center community, creativity, and responsibility. Students lead:
Community dialogues and town halls exploring AI’s impact on everyday life
Research projects examining bias, ethics, and power in AI systems
Games and interactive tools that explore real-world AI dilemmas
Resources designed to support AI literacy and critical thinking for others
Each project reflects youth agency in action—students are not just learning about AI, they are shaping how it is understood, discussed, and used.
DIALOGUE & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
TRANSFORMING AI SUMMITS
2023-Present
Annual gatherings showcase student research, feature leading voices in AI ethics, and build connections between emerging innovators and industry leaders. Past speakers include Dr. Nettrice Gaskins (Lesley University), Dr. Joy Buolamwini (Algorithmic Justice League), and Dr. Ehi Nosakhare (Microsoft). Each summit marks a milestone in expanding youth leadership in AI conversations.
AI AND US TOWN HALL
2025-Present
Community conversations bringing together diverse voices—students, educators, business leaders, and residents—to explore AI's impact and imagine more equitable futures. Gatherings feature panel discussions, youth showcases, and a community commitment wall where attendees share their hopes, concerns, and commitments for AI's future.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE TOWN HALLS
GAME & WEB PROJECTS
OBLIVION
2025 - Present
A 2D side-scrolling platformer where players navigate a city divided by a powerful AI system. Following Alex's search for his missing sister, players experience the iFp design process—Question it. Understand it. Reimagine it. Build it— through gameplay. The game explores what happens when powerful technology remains in the hands of a corrupt few, inviting players to think like designers and imagine alternatives.
LEARN ABOUT OBLIVION
AI WEB PROJECTS
2023 - Present
Interactive web experiences exploring AI's impact through storytelling and design:
AI Adventure – Choose-your-own-path story exploring ethical AI dilemmas and their consequences.
Our Earth – Interactive visualization examining AI's environmental impact and sustainable alternatives.
and more…
EXPLORE WEB PROJECTS
RESEARCH & LEARNING
AHA Moments in AI
2025-Present
High school students investigate AI's real-world impacts— algorithmic bias, creative applications, accessibility, and more—producing research selected for NeurIPS 2024 (one of the world's premier AI conferences; 1 of 54 projects selected worldwide). Their findings become educational resources empowering other students to understand and question AI.
EXPLORE AHA MOMENTS
AI Research
Ongoing
Our emerging innovators investigate AI's biggest challenges:
Missing Voices in AI
Barriers to AI for All
Creativity Under Threat
and more…
EXPLORE RESEARCH
RESOURCES & ADVOCACY
AI + Agency Resource Hub
2025-Present
A curated collection helping people understand, question, and reimagine AI's future. Built for those who refuse to be passive users—especially young people whose voices have been left out. Features educational resources, critical perspectives, and community-submitted content.
WHY THIS MATTERS
AI will not change on its own. The future of AI depends on who is invited to ask questions, make decisions, and build solutions.
Transforming AI prepares young people to:
Think critically about technology and power
Understand systems rather than accept them as fixed
Imagine alternatives rooted in their lived experiences
Build solutions that serve people and communities
This is not about creating future technologists only. It is about preparing thoughtful leaders, designers, advocates, and citizens who can engage with AI responsibly—no matter the path they choose.
“Generative AI is giving us a chance to stop working in siloes. Many people in this room go back to their companies and think about corporate responsibility, and I want to expand that to creating shared value in companies by seeking out the community and the people here. I think that’s important, and I’m excited to see what comes next.
— Jennat, iFp’24, NEU’28 Public Policy and International Affairs Major”
BE PART OF THE TRANSFORMATION
The future of AI is being shaped right now. Who builds it, who benefits, and who is heard are choices.
Transforming AI invites young people to take an active role in questioning assumptions, understanding systems, imagining better possibilities, and building AI that reflects their values and serves their communities.
This is what it looks like to build AI with agency.