WAICY

World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth

A project-based global AI competition with tracks for art and video as well as technical builds.

Run by Inventive Learning

Eligible grades: Not confirmed. Check the organiser's rules before entering.
WAICY defines eligibility by age, not grade. It is not converted here.
Eligible ages: Ages 6 to 18
Stated on WAICY's own site and FAQ. Open to students worldwide.
Source, checked 2026-09-01
Individual or team: Individual or team · Not confirmed
Where it runs: Online · International
Entry cost: A registration fee in some editions, with waivers availableNot confirmed. WAICY's own site did not state a fee on the pages checked. Third-party guides describe entry as free, while at least one regional partner has charged a local participation fee with waivers available. Confirm with the organiser or your regional partner before assuming.
Registration deadline: Set locally, not published as a single national date 2026-27 dates not published on the official pages checked.
Competition dates: Submissions in winter, regional judging in spring, international final following.
Difficulty: Some preparation neededYou will want a few weeks of targeted practice. Most motivated students place respectably.
Prizes: Awards, recognition and international finals placement2026-27 awards not published on the official pages checked.

What WAICY is

WAICY invites students to build and present AI projects across several tracks, including an AI Showcase for applied projects, AI-generated art, and AI video. It is deliberately broad: students with no machine learning background can enter creative tracks, while technical students can build applied systems. It runs globally with regional and international rounds.

How the competition works

Students showcase creativity and innovation using AI through projects, art, videos and more. An annual global competition since 2018.

Eligibility notes

Divisions by age. Check the current edition's divisions, which have varied between years.

Is WAICY right for you?

Experience needed: None for the creative tracks; some Python for the technical showcase track.
Time commitment: A few weeks to a couple of months on a project.
What you actually do: You build something using AI, from a trained model to an AI-assisted artwork, and explain it in a short video to judges.

A good fit if

You are curious about AI but not yet a machine learning engineer
You want a first AI competition
You like project work more than exams

Probably not for you if

Students seeking an olympiad-level technical challenge, who should look at IOAI

Compare this against competitions matched to you

Common mistakes

Submitting an impressive output with no explanation of the process. Judges score how you built it.
Ignoring the ethics and societal relevance criteria, which are explicitly weighted.

How to register

Check the current edition's tracks and divisions on the official site.
Pick a track honestly. The creative tracks are genuinely open to students with no machine learning background.
Build the project and record a clear video explaining the problem, the approach and what you learned.
Submit before the winter deadline.

What skills you need

Recommended resources

WAICY official site Official · free
Tracks, divisions, deadlines and past projects.
Machine Learning for Kids Tool · free
Free block-based machine learning tool designed for students with no coding background.
Teachable Machine Tool · free
Free browser tool for training image, sound and pose models with no code.

Past problems and materials

Only materials the organiser or an authorised archive publishes openly are listed here.

Past project showcases
Published examples of previous entries by track.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to know machine learning?

Not for every track. The AI art and video tracks are open to students with no technical background, and free no-code tools such as Teachable Machine let beginners train real models for the showcase track.

Reviews, tips and resources from other students

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Something out of date?

If a deadline, fee or eligibility rule on this page no longer matches the official site, flag it and it goes into the review queue.

Verification

Not yet re-checked 2026-08-29

The track structure, project format and age range follow WAICY's published description. Fees, deadlines and divisions have varied between editions and were not confirmed during the last check. Confirm on the official site.

Not confirmed for this cycle: Who can enter, Registration deadline, Competition dates, Entry cost, Individual or team, Prizes, How to register. Check these on the official site.

Source: the organiser's own site. No individual fact on this page has been re-checked against it for the current cycle.

Cycle checked: 2026-27 NOT YET PUBLISHED

Looked for and not found: competition_dates, deadline, entry_fee, grades, prizes, registration, team. These are shown as not confirmed rather than estimated.

Rules and dates change. Confirm everything on the official site before you rely on it.

At a glance

CategoryCoding
Grades4 to 12
CostA registration fee in some editions, with waivers available
FormatEither
LocationOnline
Difficulty2 of 5
Top prize$2,000

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