← TRNT AI & Innovation Lab: all workshops The AI Lab · Ages 8–18
A vision for the TRNT AI Lab

One lab, three tracks, and a stage at the end of every term.

Students learn AI by making real things. Each project goes into their portfolio and ends at Demo Day in front of university mentors and families. The lab can run in Vancouver and online, across Canada and the US.

The lab at a glance

Every student finds a way in. Creative students start with stories, games, and music. Builders start with gadgets and apps. Future founders and leaders start with real-world problems. Most students move across tracks over time.

🎨 CreateImagine and express with AI
🛠️ BuildEngineer and invent with AI
🚀 LeadSolve real problems and take ideas further
🌐

The foundation for every track: a portfolio. In their first session, students publish a personal website. Every project afterwards is added to it.

Session plan →
AGES 8–10Explorers

Play-first and instructor-led. No accounts. Students design, and the instructor builds with them on the big screen.

AGES 11–12Makers

Students do the hands-on making in a classroom setup, with the instructor handling anything that needs an account.

AGES 13–18Innovators

Students own every step, use their own accounts with parental consent, and take projects to Demo Day and beyond.

All workshop ideas

Jarvis and Smart Gadget link to detailed pages. The new ideas are short on purpose, so we can agree on a direction first. Each one answers the same questions: what students make, why families care, where it leads, and what students decide.

🎨 CreateAges 8–12Online-ready

📖 AI Storybook Studio

Students make
Their own illustrated storybook. They write the story and direct the AI illustrations page by page, and the book is printed to take home.
Families care because
It's a keepsake, and it builds reading, writing, and creativity.
Grows into
A series, a narrated audiobook, or a short animated version.
Students decide
Characters, plot, art style, and which images make the final cut, and why.
🎨 CreateAges 10–18Online-ready

🎮 AI Game Studio

Students make
A playable browser game they designed and built with an AI coding assistant, including a character with its own AI personality.
Families care because
It turns gaming time into making time, and teaches logic and design.
Grows into
New levels, playtests with friends, a published game on their portfolio, and game jams.
Students decide
The genre, the rules, the characters, and what makes it fun, based on what playtesters say.
🎨 CreateAges 10–18Online-ready

🎵 AI Music & Media Lab

Students make
An original song, podcast episode, or short film, using AI as an instrument while keeping the creative direction their own.
Families care because
Creative students see where AI fits in the arts, and they learn copyright and how to credit work honestly.
Grows into
A series, a school showcase, or a youth film or music festival entry.
Students decide
The concept, what the AI makes and what they make themselves, and how to credit both.
🛠️ BuildAges 8–18Online-ready

📷 Invent a Smart Gadget

Students make
An invention powered by an image, sound, or pose model they train themselves.
Families care because
It feels like magic in minutes, and it leads to science fairs and robotics.
Full concept →
🛠️ BuildAges 12–18Online-ready

💻 Vibe-code a Real App

Students make
A working web app, such as a club sign-up or a chore tracker, built by writing a clear spec for an AI coding agent, then testing and fixing what it builds.
Families care because
This is how software is increasingly made. The lasting skill is clear thinking and checking AI's work.
Grows into
Real users, a version 2 based on feedback, and an open-source project.
Students decide
What goes in version 1 and what waits, how it should work, and the tests it must pass.
🛠️ BuildAges 8–18Featured

🦾 Build Your Own Jarvis

Students make
A personal AI agent with a personality, memory, skills, and a schedule.
Families care because
Agents are the next wave after chatbots, and students learn the trust decisions behind them.
Full concept →
🛠️ BuildAges 14–18Online-ready

🔬 AI Research Project

Students make
An answer to a real question using data and AI, such as "Can a model spot plant disease from leaf photos?", written up as a poster or short paper and reviewed by a university mentor.
Families care because
Real research experience is rare at high-school level and stands out in STEM applications.
Grows into
Science fair entries, student research journals, and longer mentorship.
Students decide
The research question, the method, and how to judge whether the results can be trusted.
🚀 LeadAges 11–18Online-ready

🤝 AI for Good Challenge

Students make
A solution for a local organisation, such as a volunteer schedule helper for a food bank or a question-answering helper for a seniors' centre.
Families care because
It combines technology with service, and gives a genuine community-impact story for applications.
Grows into
A real rollout with the organisation, measured impact, and a challenge between TRNT locations.
Students decide
The cause, the problem worth solving, and how to measure success.
🚀 LeadAges 11–18Online-ready

⚖️ AI Ethics & Debate Lab

Students make
Their own tests of AI tools for bias and made-up facts, then a structured debate on a real case, such as AI in schools or deepfakes.
Families care because
It builds critical thinking and public speaking, and makes students safer, sharper users of AI.
Grows into
A position paper, a debate tournament, or an "AI rules" proposal for their own school.
Students decide
What to test, which position to take, and which evidence holds up.
🚀 LeadAges 13–18Online-ready

💡 AI Startup Studio

Students make
A startup idea taken from a real problem through customer interviews to a working AI prototype, and a three-minute pitch at Demo Day.
Families care because
It builds entrepreneurship, teamwork, and presenting, with real feedback from mentors.
Grows into
A place in the Student Product Incubator, with a pilot, a business model, and possibly a real product on the market.
Students decide
The problem, the customer, what to build first, and what evidence would prove them right or wrong.

How a term runs

The same rhythm works for a weekly after-school program, a holiday camp, or an online cohort.

1LaunchPublish a portfolio and pick a track.
2Build sprintsTwo or three workshops, each ending with something that works.
3Mentor check-inOnline feedback from a university mentor midway through.
4Demo DayStudents present to mentors and families.
5ShowcaseThe best projects compete in a cross-location showcase, or move into the incubator.

Mentors and reach

🎓 University mentors

  • Short online sessions, so mentors from any university can take part
  • A mid-term check-in on project direction
  • Demo Day judges and feedback
  • Research projects reviewed the way a lab would review them

🌎 Across Canada and the US

  • Every workshop runs in a browser, so it works in person or online
  • Shared materials keep quality the same in every location
  • Mixed online cohorts connect students from different cities
  • A cross-location showcase gives every campus the same stage

🏆 Competitions and Demo Days

  • Demo Day at the end of every term
  • A yearly AI for Good challenge between locations
  • Coaching for external science fairs, game jams, and pitch competitions

What students leave with for university

Admissions teams look for evidence of initiative, depth, and impact. The lab produces that evidence as a by-product of building.

EvidenceWhere it comes from
A live portfolio of real projectsEvery workshop
Project write-ups: problem, approach, resultEvery workshop, written in the format essays and interviews ask for
A research poster or paperAI Research Project
Community impactAI for Good Challenge
Leadership and entrepreneurshipAI Startup Studio, Demo Day
Competition results and mentor feedbackDemo Day, the showcase, and external competitions

Where I'd start

Lead with Build Your Own Jarvis. It's the workshop I'd most like to teach. I run a real Jarvis myself, the "Hey Jarvis" moment works from age 8 to 18, and it leads naturally into deeper projects for teenagers.

Then add one flagship for teens: AI Startup Studio. It gives Demo Day a headline, draws on my background building AI products and ventures, and shows families the bigger possibilities.

Everything else can be added track by track once we agree on the direction. Over time, the strongest projects and students feed the Student Product Incubator, where students join real product teams or take their own ideas to market.