Ask a ten-year-old for the capital of Peru, and they’ll ask a voice assistant. Stuck on a fraction? A chatbot solves it. Their next video, game and song are all picked by an algorithm they’ve never heard of.
Now ask them how the AI decided. Most children can’t tell you. That isn’t because they aren’t bright. Nobody has taught them.
That is the gap. Children are using AI long before they understand it, and a tool you don’t understand is a tool you can’t question.
Why this can’t wait
AI is moving from the phone into the classroom. From the 2026–27 session, CBSE has introduced a Computational Thinking and AI curriculum for Classes 3 to 8. From 2027–28, AI becomes a compulsory subject from Class 9, with the first board exams in 2029. The message is clear: AI literacy is becoming as basic as reading and maths.
New curricula take time to reach every classroom, though. Children are meeting AI right now, on phones, tablets and games, where nobody explains what’s happening underneath.
So the real question isn’t whether to keep children away from AI. It’s whether they learn to use it intelligently or end up depending on it blindly.
{{/usCountry}}So the real question isn’t whether to keep children away from AI. It’s whether they learn to use it intelligently or end up depending on it blindly.
{{/usCountry}}An Olympiad for a subject most children hasn’t studied yet
Most Olympiads test what a child already knows. The GLF AI Olympiad 2026 by GLF Academy, in collaboration with IIT Bombay Techfest, is different, because the preparation is half the point. It is a national AI literacy Olympiad for Grades 3 to 10: a 60-minute exam in English, pitched at three levels so every child is tested for their age:
• Grades 3–5: Discover AI. Smart devices, patterns, image and sound recognition, safe technology use
• Grades 6–8: Understand AI. Algorithms, data bias, neural networks, ethics
• Grades 9–10: Apply AI. Generative AI, Python, the machine-learning lifecycle, AI project building
No coding background is needed. The aim isn’t to create coders overnight. It is to raise children who are curious, confident and responsible with the technology shaping their future.
Backed by academic rigour
IIIT Allahabad has validated the syllabus and question banks. COEP Technological University, Pune, has reviewed the curriculum and calibrated difficulty by grade. STEMLearn.AI is the curriculum and learning-platform partner.
One registration, the full journey
Before the exam: grade-wise study material delivered home, access to the STEMLearn.AI learning platform with lessons, quizzes and practice modules, and an official sample paper so nothing comes as a surprise.
After the exam: a personalised report showing topic-wise strengths and gaps rather than just a score, a digitally verified certificate, a national ranking, and cash prizes for top performers. Results are declared within four weeks.
The road to IIT Bombay
Last year’s edition, run under the STEMLearn.AI banner, reached more than 10,000 students across 500+ schools. Top performers were recognised at SparkX, a national AI challenge hosted at Techfest, IIT Bombay, which its organisers call Asia’s largest science and technology festival. This year, the top 160 students will get the opportunity to take part in SparkX.
For parents
• Who: Any student from Grade 3 to Grade 10
• Fee: ₹299 (Grades 3–6) | ₹399 (Grades 7–10), with everything above included
• How: Register and pay online by UPI, card or net banking. Platform login follows within 24–48 hours, and study material arrives in 5–7 business days. The exam is taken online from home.
Registering early means more time to prepare.
Register your child: https://glfacademy.org/olympiads/ai-olympiad-2026/
For principals and school leaders
With CBSE bringing AI into classrooms from Class 3 and making it compulsory from Class 9, every school now faces the same practical question: how do you give students meaningful exposure to AI without adding to an already full timetable?
The GLF AI Olympiad offers a ready answer. Students prepare with structured, age-appropriate material, take a national-level assessment and receive detailed feedback. The school gets a clear view of where its students stand and a chance to see them recognised on a national platform.
• Zero institutional fee: students pay the same ₹299 / ₹399
• Exam on your campus: offline OMR format
• Simple sign-up: a two-step process
• School-wise performance report: shared after results
• National stage: top performers get the opportunity to reach SparkX at IIT Bombay Techfest
Bring the AI Olympiad to your school: https://glfacademy.org/schools
The question that matters
A child who understands how AI reaches an answer is also the child who asks the next question: is it right? That habit of curiosity mixed with healthy doubt is worth building early, while the curiosity is still fresh.
Note to the Reader: This article has been produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times.