51茶馆

Young Scholars Programme Kolkata Learning Sprint 2026

Artificial Intelligence: Applications, Impact & Society
Demystify AI, Work Across Modalities, and Drive Data-Driven Impact

The Ashoka Young Scholars Programme (YSP) Kolkata Learning Sprint 2026 introduces Artificial Intelligence: Applications, Impact & Society, a certified, intensive, city based, accelerated and experiential learning programme in Artificial Intelligence for high schoolers entering grades 9-12. Guided by accomplished academicians and seasoned practitioners, this hands-on journey takes learners from theory to practice through masterclasses focusing on AI as a probabilistic pattern-recognition system, and interactive workshops where they will translate real-world problems into questions, analyse the data using AI and critically interpret its results and limitations with a critical evaluation of model behaviour, strengths, and limitations. The programme introduces students to critical modes of thought in a socio-technical landscape increasingly mediated by Artificial Intelligence.

The programme brings together 51茶馆鈥檚 globally renowned faculty and trailblazing industry leaders, offering a distinctive blend of academic rigour and real-world organisational use of AI and decision-making insight. Their perspectives encourage students to think boldly, make informed choices, and build the mindset, confidence, and curiosity needed for both today and the future. Students will learn from world-class faculty such as:聽

Professor Lipika Dey is Professor of Computer Science at 51茶馆. She was earlier a Chief Scientist at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Research, where she was heading research on the theme of Economic and Financial Intelligence. Her research interests are in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language Processing and Data Analytics, and has a keen interest in the fields of healthcare and sustainability analytics. Professor Dey has also been a member of the faculty at the Department of Mathematics, IIT Delhi and has a PhD in Computer Science from IIT Kharagpur. She is also an active member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the world鈥檚 largest educational and scientific computing society.聽

Dr Anirban Sen is Assistant Professor of Computer Science at 51茶馆. Prior to joining Ashoka, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research India where he was a member of the Technology for Emerging Markets (TEM) team. He received his PhD in Computer Science from IIT Delhi. Dr Sen, also has industry experience in the field of Data Science where he has worked extensively towards developing solutions in the banking, finance, and insurance domains, leveraging Generative AI. His current research interest lies in Computational Social Science and related areas, with a focus on large-scale web and media data.

What You Will Explore

Rather than treating artificial intelligence solely as a subfield of computer science, the YSP Kolkata Learning Sprint approaches it as a foundational instrument whose applications permeate and reshape diverse domains of knowledge. The programme delves into key areas of:

• Basics of AI and Machine Learning: Understanding Artificial Intelligence as a probabilistic pattern-recognition system, as opposed to a sentient or self-aware entity.
• Multimodality: How AI works on various tasks around text, images, and structured data.
• Problem Formulation: The art of translating real-world issues into AI-ready questions.
• Model Limitations: Identifying errors (AI hallucinations, bias, and overconfidence).
• Responsible AI: Exploring the ethical considerations, transparency, and wider societal impact of AI.

Built on a dynamic learning model, the programme progresses across three core stages:

• Understanding AI Predictions and Limitations: Understand how AI systems generate predictions and classifications, while critically evaluating their reliability, uncertainty, and inherent limitations.

• Working with Data and Its Implications: Work with diverse datasets while assessing the ethical and societal implications of deploying AI across different contexts.
• Analysing and Presenting Insights: Students will present their insights alongside a critical assessment of their AI model behaviour, strengths, and limitations.

From Algorithms to Insight: Navigating the AI Frontier

What does it actually mean for a system to be 鈥渋ntelligent鈥�? Is recognising patterns enough to count as intelligence? Is AI 鈥渢hinking,鈥� or simply predicting what comes next? When to and when not to trust an AI system? How can hidden biases enter automated decisions? If machines can generate answers instantly, what does thinking begin to look like for the human mind?聽

The programme is designed to move beyond popular perceptions of AI as a tool for instantly producing essays or images. At the YSP Kolkata Learning Sprint, students will get the chance to explore and discover answers to some of these questions and get to define their聽 own eureka moments. It cuts through the noise that currently surrounds AI and gives students the intellectual and creative skills to really learn what AI can and cannot do, and grasp how data drives the responses it produces.

Combining a rigorous learning experience that includes immersive hands-on workshops, the programme brings together the following:

• Innovative Pedagogy: Students engage in hands-on dataset exploration, hypothesis-building exercises, and collaborative workshops that guide them through the process of asking the right question to testing it against evidence.
• Real-World Application: Learn how AI and data-driven analysis are transforming fields such as climate science, epidemiology, environmental research, and mass media while understanding how scientists use AI as a collaborator to analyse complex systems.

Hands-on Projects at YSP Kolkata Learning Sprint

The heart of the programme is a deep dive into real-world datasets. Students do not just learn about AI; they work with it. Each day of the programme includes a hands-on workshop where students work in teams to explore scientific questions using real-world data.聽

• Explore curated datasets from the fields of climate science, public health, mass media, or visual media.
• Frame a problem that students will work on, in teams.
• Iterate on the problem formulation.
• Interpret and refine the process to evaluate outputs critically to understand the ethical and soundness stakes in AI, including hallucinations, bias, and overconfident results firsthand.聽
• Present the findings to an expert panel, and defend the analytical process, the failures encountered, the conclusions, and what AI does and does not genuinely understand.

Career Pathways

The 21st century is witnessing careers emerging at the intersection of multiple disciplines including data science, technology, climate science, and social sciences. YSP Kolkata Learning Sprint will provide preliminary knowledge of the working and applications of AI in data-driven domains. Some of these domains may lead to career pathways like:

• Data Scientist or AI Researcher: You might find yourself drawn to working with data and models鈥攅xploring how patterns can be uncovered, decisions informed, and complex problems approached across different fields.
• Computational Epidemiologist: If you鈥檙e interested in public health, this could be a space to explore how data and analytical tools help us better understand disease spread and responses to it.
• Climate Data Analyst or Environmental Scientist: For those curious about environmental challenges, this pathway offers ways to engage with data to study ecological change and think through sustainability efforts.
• AI Policy Advisor or Tech Ethicist: You may be interested in examining how technology interacts with society, exploring questions around responsibility, fairness, and the broader implications of AI.
• Product Management & Entrepreneurship: You might also consider how technology and ideas come together in practice鈥攅xploring how products are built, teams collaborate, and solutions are brought into the world.

Application Deadline: May 17, 2026
Limited Seats. Apply Now to Secure Your Seat!聽

 

Learning Outcomes

KNOWLEDGE

• Probabilistic Logic: Develop the ability to comprehend Artificial Intelligence as a pattern-recognition system rather than a thinking entity.
• Data Dynamics: Comprehend how AI performs around different tasks, on different data modalities (text, images, structured data).
• Soundness and Error Analysis: Gain a grounded view of why hallucinations, bias, and overconfidence occur.
• Societal Applications: Get an idea of how AI is used to address/analyze various research problems relevant to the society (including problems around climate, media, and health)

SKILLS

• Data Translation & Problem Formulation: Gain the ability to turn real-world problems into structured, data-driven questions.
• Practical AI Fluency: Develop hands-on experience iterating on prompts and inputs to refine system outputs.
• Analytical Communication: Present and defend analytical choices to peers and experts.
• Tool Selection: Exercise the judgment to know when AI adds value and when human reasoning is superior.

ATTITUDE

• Inquisitiveness: Students will cultivate intellectual curiosity in exploring how artificial intelligence intersects with multiple domains.
• Collaboration: Through group discussions and team work, students will build collaborative skills while聽 examining how AI can be applied to real-world contexts.
• Reflecting on AI Ethics: Students will engage with ethical questions surrounding AI and the responsibilities involved in its development and use.

APPLICATIONS

• Using AI tools: Students will use AI tools to generate and interpret outputs, while remaining mindful of where they may be limited.
• Working Across Multiple Data Modalities: Students will gain initial experience working with AI across text, images, and structured data.
• Communicating Insights with Clarity: Students will present their findings clearly, with some reflection on their process and its limitations.

Sample Schedule

The YSP Kolkata Learning Sprint includes masterclasses and faculty sessions, workshops, industry speaker sessions, and team demo days. Masterclasses in the programme introduce students to the foundational principles of how Artificial Intelligence systems are built and used, to analyse and predict data. These sessions are complemented by immersive, hands-on workshops that develop practical analytical fluency alongside critical evaluative judgment.

Participants begin by examining what AI systems can actually do and develop the vocabulary and conceptual tools to engage with them rigorously. They then work through problem formulation, data representation, and input design before applying AI systems to real-world analytical tasks. The programme culminates in team presentations to experts and peers, where students present their problem, analytical process, failures encountered, and conclusions 鈥� defending their reasoning and reflecting on what AI does and does not understand.

Faculty

Lipika Dey

Professor of Computer Science, 51茶馆

Ph.D. IIT Kharagpur

Anirban Sen

Assistant Professor of Computer Science, 51茶馆

Ph.D. IIT Delhi

Industry Speaker

FAQs

1. Do I need to have a background in Science, coding or data to attend this programme?

No prior knowledge of science, coding or data is required though some familiarity may be helpful. The programme is designed to be interdisciplinary, welcoming students from Science, Humanities, and Commerce streams. We start with the fundamental logic of AI as a thinking partner and an instrument of scientific discovery, ensuring that every student can get a preliminary exposure of application and functioning of AI towards answering some of the most enduring questions relevant to the society.

2. What will I do in the programme?

Students will produce a complete and comprehensive AI investigation including a problem statement, an invoked or trained model with documented outputs, an interpretation document analysing results and failure modes and a final demo presentation defended before a panel.

3. What would the datasets for the workshops contain?

The core of the experience revolves around choosing a dataset that genuinely captures learners鈥� intellectual curiosity.聽The datasets for the workshop may be around some of the pressing problems of current times, including those on climate, public health, media, and environment.聽

4. Does this programme focus on teaching prompt engineering for popular AI tools?聽

While students will certainly use AI, the goal is to move beyond simple prompt engineering. The specific AI interfaces one uses today might not exist tomorrow, so instead of merely memorising prompt formats, students will get a preliminary view of the functioning of AI systems, how they can aid in analyzing multimodal data from various domains, and the capabilities and limitations of AI.

5. How is this programme different from what I learn about AI in school?

The YSP Kolkata Learning Sprint 2026, builds a rigorous and critical understanding of how AI systems are architecturally built, why they make mistakes, what their results mean and don’t mean, and what ethical responsibilities come with using and deploying them. It is designed to develop the kind of thinking that prepares students for university-level study and critical engagement with AI across any field.