“Pushing Our Work Beyond the Classroom” A Conversation with a Student AI Innovator

AI’s next generation of innovators are in Illinois’ classrooms, right now.

The Illinois AI Challenge made it clear that students across the state are passionate about AI’s capabilities and are eager to put its potential to work – even before they enter the workforce.

For one team from Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in Chicago, that passion extended beyond the classroom and out into their community. There, they noticed that their neighbors weren’t able to obtain reliable health care at local free clinics due to resource and personnel constraints.

Their proposed solution, “ClinicFlow,” leverages artificial intelligence to optimize patient triage and queue optimization, ensuring the most acutely sick patients receive immediate care.

For their uniquely human-centered approach, the Payton Neural Network team was recognized as the winners of the inaugural Illinois AI Challenge. The team also shared what inspired their project, as well as about how AI is impacting their educational life.

Q. How do you feel about being selected for this statewide honor?

A. Armaan Grewal, student and team captain: “The statewide recognition is very humbling and motivating.”

While volunteering at free clinics, I often noticed patients with chest pain or serious symptoms waiting an hour or more behind someone walking in for a routine checkup or picking up a medication refill, only because they arrived later. It became clear to me that the triage process could be improved.”

Q. What’s something you learned while working on this project?

A. Armaan: “We learned so much! The usual technical stuff, of course, but we also learned how to take on new and unfamiliar challenges with confidence.

This project pushed us to embody our school’s mission statement, especially the values of “Curiosity and Courage”, by asking hard questions, stepping outside our comfort zone, and persisting through challenges.”

Q. Outside this project, how do you use AI at school or in your free time?

A. Armaan: “The use of AI is generally discouraged for assignments and homework at our school, which is common across most educational institutions.

However, that is something we hope to help change by reframing AI as a tool to advance learning rather than a shortcut. Programs like [this challenge] are powerful because they shift the mindset, showing how AI can be used responsibly for problem-solving, research, and real-world impact within the education system.”

Q. Is AI seeing use in your classroom, either by you or your students?

A.Mx. Lee: Yes, I’ve started using it a bit, mainly to generate practice exercises or foster idea development. Unfortunately, I’m seeing it used to plagiarize, as well.

Q. How do you expect AI will impact how you teach in the next couple years?

A. Mx. Lee: The biggest concern I have is students implementing vibe coding to complete programming assignments and submitting it as their own unique creation. This has already started happening, and I am concerned this strategy will only grow. 

While I recognize the useful tool it can be, I do not believe it can or should be a substitute for genuine coding knowledge and algorithm development ability.”

For these students and their teacher, AI is more than a class project. Their curiosity and concerns demonstrate how AI’s place in education is still evolving, with real-world impacts moving closer and closer to the forefront.

Wherever AI’s headed next, be sure to keep your eyes on these young innovators. If their effort so far is any indicator, then Silicon Valley will know their names in no time.

Your students can become creative AI innovators, too. Computer science is the key.

Get started with a quick activity from our CS Resource Library or learn how to harness lesson plans that explore AI’s real-world impact at this summer’s CS PD Week →