Artificial intelligence is already part of daily life, from voice assistants to video suggestions. This badge helps you understand how AI and automation work, where they fall short, and how to use them wisely and honestly. You'll even build or design something of your own.
Why it's worth it
AI already picks your next video, finishes your text messages, and helps doctors read X-rays. Soon it will be part of almost every job. This badge helps you understand what's really happening inside these tools, where they go wrong, and how to use them honestly instead of letting them think for you. You'll learn to spot a deepfake, write rules you can live by, and build or teach something real, which puts you ahead of most adults.
Start this week
- For one day, keep a list of every time you use something that might be AI, like a map app rerouting you, a streaming suggestion, or autocorrect.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Artificial Intelligence counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Sit down with a parent and go over your family's rules for AI tools and each tool's age requirements before you try any of them.
- Write down three questions you have about AI, like "How does it know what I'm asking?", and bring them to your first counselor meeting.
Stay safe
- Follow each AI tool's age rules and your family's rules, and never type your full name, address, school, passwords, or photos of yourself or others into a chatbot.
Requirements · 8
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab) (updated 2025).
- Requirement 1
Define each of these terms and explain it to your counselor: artificial intelligence (AI), AI agents, bots, digital workers, narrow AI, general AI, superintelligent AI, machine learning, automation, workflows, tasks, triggers, basic programming, variables, data, databases
Tip: Make flash cards for the key terms and try explaining each one to a family member in your own words.
- Requirement 2
AI basics
Tips for this section: List AI you use in a day, like maps or streaming suggestions. Play AI or Not with friends using pictures or text.
- Requirement 2a
Name 10 ways AI is used in everyday life today, and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 2b
Name five ways AI is used at work today, and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 2c
Name five ways AI can be used at school or to support your learning, and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 2d
Play 10 rounds of "AI or Not?" with your counselor, deciding whether each scenario uses AI, and discuss your answers
- Requirement 2e
Make a timeline of five key milestones in AI's development and share it with your counselor
- Requirement 3
Automation basics
Tips for this section: Look around your home and community for automation, like traffic lights or dishwashers, and explain the steps they follow.
Example for this section: Explain how an automatic sprinkler system works as steps: a timer or moisture sensor checks the soil, a controller decides whether to water, valves open for a set time, then close. Compare that fixed rule-following to AI, which learns patterns from examples.
- Requirement 3a
Name 10 ways automation is used in everyday life today, and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 3b
Name five ways automation is used at work today, and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 3c
Name five ways automation can be used at school or to support your learning, and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 3d
Explain to your counselor how automation handles repeated tasks without people, and how it cuts human error and makes better use of resources
- Requirement 3e
Make a timeline of five major milestones in automation and share it with your counselor
- Requirement 4
Ethics in AI
Tips for this section: Talk with your family about fair and honest AI use, including at school. Write your guidelines as a short list you can actually follow.
Example for this section: Your personal guidelines might say: "I'll tell my teacher when I use AI on schoolwork. I won't share my name, address, school, or photos with a chatbot. I'll double-check facts in a second source. I won't use AI to make fake images of real people."
- Requirement 4a
Research ethical concerns and responsible AI use, including bias, privacy, and decisions made by AI, and report your findings to your counselor
- Requirement 4b
With your counselor, go through 5 "What Would You Do?" ethics scenarios and discuss each decision
- Requirement 4c
Write your own ethical guidelines for using AI and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 4d
Explain the Turing test to your counselor
- Requirement 5
Deepfakes
Tips for this section: Look at examples of fake images or videos with a parent. Practice checking the source before you believe or share something.
Example for this section: Practice a response plan: if a shocking video of a celebrity shows up, pause before sharing, look for the original source, check whether trusted news outlets report it, and look for odd details like blurry edges or mismatched lighting. Then talk with a parent.
- Requirement 5a
Explain to your counselor what deepfakes are and the harm one can do to a person
- Requirement 5b
Describe to your counselor what to do if a deepfake affects you or someone you know
- Requirement 6
Building AI skills
Tips for this section: Try writing a few prompts for a chatbot, with a parent's permission, and see how changing your wording changes the answer. Notice when it makes mistakes.
Example for this section: Try prompt-writing with a parent: ask a chatbot "Tell me about bridges," then "Explain to a 7th grader how a suspension bridge holds weight, in three short paragraphs." Compare the answers and check one fact to see if it got anything wrong.
- Requirement 6a
Discuss with your counselor how AI learns and what its limits are
- Requirement 6b
Name five ways to communicate effectively with AI, and share them with your counselor
- Requirement 6c
Explain to your counselor why prompt engineering matters for getting better AI results
- Requirement 6d
Show your counselor three examples of clear instructions you wrote for a school task
- Requirement 7
Practical application. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Pick a project that fits your interests, or plan a lesson to teach younger scouts what AI is.
Example for this section: A project could be training a simple image classifier in a free classroom tool to tell recyclables from trash, using photos of objects (not people). Test it with new items, note where it fails, and explain why more varied examples helped.
- Requirement 7a
With counselor approval, pick an AI project based on your interests or a community need; plan its goals, data needs, and ethical issues, build it with suitable AI tools, then show your counselor and discuss your steps and experience
- Requirement 7b
With counselor approval, plan and teach a short AI lesson to your patrol or other Scouts, including an AI-generated age-appropriate explanation, everyday and workplace examples, and a hands-on demo of AI helping with schoolwork, Scouting, or rank; discuss it with your counselor
- Requirement 8
Career exploration. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Look into AI jobs and the skills they need. If you interview someone, prepare your questions ahead of time.
- Requirement 8a
Find three careers that use AI or automation skills; research one's training, education, certifications, experience, costs, job outlook, starting pay, and advancement, then discuss it and your interest in it with your counselor
- Requirement 8b
Interview an AI or automation professional about their daily work, challenges, view of the field's future, and the training, education, certifications, experience, and costs to enter it; share what you learned with your counselor
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A university computer science or robotics lab
Researchers can show you real projects, like robots that learn to grasp objects or software that helps scientists sort data.
How: An adult contacts the department and asks about open houses, outreach days, or a short lab tour for a small group of Scouts.
A business or hospital that uses automation
Seeing automation at work, like a warehouse sorting system or a pharmacy robot, shows what machines do well and where people are still needed.
How: Ask a family member or your counselor if their workplace would host a short visit. An adult arranges it and goes with you.
Where it can lead
- Machine learning engineerBuilds and trains the models behind AI tools; usually requires a computer science degree.
- Data scientistFinds patterns in large sets of data to help businesses, hospitals, and governments make decisions.
- AI ethics or policy specialistWorks on making AI fair, safe, and honest, in companies, nonprofits, and government.
- Robotics or automation technicianInstalls and repairs automated machines in factories and warehouses; often a two-year program.
- Data annotatorLabels images, text, and audio so AI systems can learn; a common entry-level job.
Ask yourself
- Where do you already use AI without thinking about it, and how do you feel about that?
- When did an AI tool give you a wrong or strange answer, and how did you notice?
- What rule in your personal AI guidelines will be hardest to keep, and why does it still matter?
- How has this badge changed the way you look at photos and videos online?
- What's one problem in your school or community you'd want AI to help with, and what could go wrong?
Good questions to ask an AI professional or computer science teacher
- What does your work with AI actually look like on a normal day?
- What's a mistake an AI system made that taught your team something important?
- How do you check whether an AI system is being fair to everyone it affects?
- What do you think people misunderstand most about AI?
- What should I learn in middle and high school if I want to work in this field?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Make sure scouts follow their family's rules and the tools' age requirements when using AI services.
- Run a group game of AI or Not to spark discussion about spotting fakes.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- School computer science or tech teacher — Can help with projects and explain how AI works.
- Public library — Books and programs on coding, robotics, and AI.
- Code.org: Artificial Intelligence (opens in a new tab) — Free lessons and videos that explain how AI learns, with hands-on activities.
- Day of AI (MIT RAISE) (opens in a new tab) — Free lessons from MIT on how AI works and how to use it responsibly.
- AI4K12 (opens in a new tab) — The five big ideas in AI, explained for students.
- Elements of AI (opens in a new tab) — A free online course from the University of Helsinki for anyone curious about AI basics.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.