Teens fear AI. These Northeastern contest winners have a solution

Three high school students won Northeastern University London's AI Futures Challenge by developing an interactive onboarding tool that addresses employee fears about AI surveillance in the workplace. Ryan Clabot, Matteo Fanfoni and Leonardo Monteforte created the solution for startup Lyra AI, which is now integrating it into a workforce survey launching in autumn. The winners received a $1,000 scholarship and internships with Lyra AI.

Teens fear AI is watching them. These Northeastern contest winners have a solution Teens fear AI is watching them. These Northeastern contest winners have a solution Northeastern London challenge provides an opportunity for high schoolers to help develop real-world solutions. LONDON – Ryan Clabot, Matteo Fanfoni and Leonardo Monteforte all had firsthand experience of how the fear of surveillance can discourage users of new technology. The three high schoolers met as students navigating AI in education. Their school offered various tools – including Google’s AI chatbot Gemini – but despite assurances of anonymity, many students remained suspicious they were being monitored. So when they entered a five-day contest hosted by Northeastern University London, they put that experience into action. The AI Futures Challenge aims to have ambitious young talent from around the world tackle real-world problems, such as the one encountered by Lyra AI, a startup at Northeastern London’s startup hub. Lyra AI found that many companies are unaware of how their employees are using AI tools or whether they’re using them at all. The three rising seniors developed an interactive onboarding tool that welcomed new hires to an organization, allowed them to discuss how they use AI and get answers to questions about surveillance and other concerns. Their solution, which captured the top prize, is now being integrated into Lyra’s new workforce survey and is due to go live in autumn. In addition to the top prize, which comes with a $1,000 scholarship to Northeastern University London, the three were also offered internships with Lyra. They told Northeastern Global News that the experience has exceeded all expectations. “It was amazing to be part of something that could have an actual impact on how people view AI,” said Fanfoni. How they stood out For Lyra, working with students was a chance to tap into the first generation of “AI natives,” said co-founder Jason Smith. That term refers to the fact that this rising generation is set to enter the workforce having grown up with AI tools in a way that most CEOs didn’t, and therefore “have a different perspective to using AI and a different perspective on privacy and trust,” he said. Editor’s Picks As part of the challenge, applicants logged in from across the planet to listen to Northeastern faculty lead a series of webinars, designed to spark new ideas and reflections about their proposed solutions. Tom Williams, assistant professor in Philosophy at Northeastern University London, said students were “talkative and engaged” in issues including AI-enabled surveillance in the workplace and “why this kind of monitoring and surveillance might be troubling.” Throughout the challenge, the standard of entries was exceptional, said Smith, who judged the competition along with two other Lyra AI executives. “We were blown away. We were absolutely blown away by what they came up with,” he said. But the winners stood out as a full-rounded solution that passed the “five-second test,” by immediately answering an employee’s most urgent questions. It delivered clear, simple messages that reassured hires, explained Smith, beginning with “Can my manager see this?” – reassuring them of absolute anonymity, before encouraging them to be open about their AI use, stating “Your manager uses AI too.” In their internships with Lyra AI, the trio is gaining direct insight into how the lessons they learned apply in larger organizations with busy development schedules, while having the chance to develop their contest-winning product further. Lyra has asked the students to test their solution, while the team has worked with Lyra’s chief product officer to develop their system further. When Lyra’s product is launched, “hopefully in autumn,” it will contain a bit of the team’s inspiration, said Smith. “It won’t be exactly as what they had suggested in the features challenge, but the spirit of what they did in the features challenge will definitely live on,” said Smith. Following the success of the 2026 AI Futures Challenge, in July, Northeastern University London won a Silver Award for tech innovation https://www.linkedin.com/posts/northeasternuniversitylondon aifutures-northeastern-northeasternuniversity-activity-7482360062838030336-abxo at the 2026 HEIST Awards, which reward universities for excellence in higher education recruitment, as judges recognized a “timely and innovative response to a real-world challenge” with the potential for long-term impact. “I thought it was an amazing idea that the university had done, actually, the AI Future Challenge,” said Smith. “I hope they do it again.”