Recently, Blue Mountains Grammar School welcomed students and educators for the opening workshops of the Youth AI Research Network (YAIRN), an international research project exploring what it means to learn well, and be well, in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Working alongside students from Lytton High School in New Zealand, our Year 9 students stepped into the role of researchers: asking questions, exploring ideas and contributing their perspectives to an international conversation about AI, learning and wellbeing.
We were delighted to welcome Dr Jean Stiles and Dr Jean-Claude Couture from the University of Alberta, Canada, together with Dave Runge from Future Schools Australia. The collaboration will continue into 2027, connecting students and educators across Australia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway.
YAIRN invites young people to investigate AI not simply as a tool to adopt or avoid, but as something that raises important questions about learning, wellbeing, judgement and the kind of future they are entering.
This work gives practical expression to our Strategic Plan: remaining grounded in the Mountains community while developing learning that equips young people to become positive changemakers with global influence. Here, that ambition becomes something students can actually do. They can investigate a question that matters to their lives, listen to experiences beyond their own community and contribute knowledge that others may find useful.
Artificial intelligence raises substantial questions about how we learn, exercise judgement and maintain our wellbeing. Young people have experiences and insights that deserve serious attention within those discussions. Providing them with the tools and support to investigate these questions is an important part of preparing them to participate thoughtfully in the world they are entering.
During the workshops, students worked in small groups to identify questions they believed were worth investigating. Among them were:
- How can AI be a helpful tool without taking over life?
- How does AI affect the mental health of individuals?
- How does AI affect our ability to think for ourselves?
- How can AI change the way we think about learning well and being well?
- Does teachers’ use of AI influence the way future generations use it?
These are thoughtful questions because they move beyond asking whether AI is simply useful or dangerous. They ask what it means to use technology wisely, how it may shape our thinking and wellbeing, and what kinds of habits and judgement young people will need as AI becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life.
I have been immensely proud of the wholehearted way our students have engaged so far. Even after many years in education, I continue to be amazed by what becomes possible when we invite young people to bring their thoughts and opinions genuinely to the table and then take the time to listen.
Young people are already living with these questions. They are using AI, observing it and forming views about the ways it may shape their learning and their lives. Their voices deserve to be part of the conversation.
Our privilege, alongside their families, is to help them grow into people who can use that confidence wisely and generously.
That is work worth giving ourselves to.