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Tag: AI + Mental Health

  • The AI Emergency Response Project by a High School Student That’s Outperforming 911 Dispatchers

    When 17-year-old Pierce Wright built an AI emergency response project as a high school student, he didn’t expect to outperform trained 911 dispatchers. But that’s exactly what happened. His system, trained on over 24 million NYC 911 call records, clocked 94.5% accuracy higher than human professionals.

    This AI emergency response project by a high school student shows that real-world AI innovation isn’t just happening in labs—it’s happening in classrooms and teen bedrooms across the country.

    Why AI Emergency Response Projects by High School Students Matter

    Every year, hundreds of thousands of 911 calls in cities like New York involve mental health or substance abuse. Many of those calls don’t need a police officer or an ambulance. They need a different kind of help. And getting that wrong leads to wasted time, crowded ERs, and in some cases, tragic outcomes.

    Pierce saw this firsthand while volunteering with EMS teams in Westport, Connecticut. He noticed that emergency responders were constantly sent to cases that didn’t require their specific skills. That experience made him wonder if AI could help solve the mismatch between real needs and dispatched services.

    So he went to work.

    What He Actually Built

    Using open city datasets from NYC, Pierce trained a gradient-boosting model that looks at four key inputs: zip code, time of day, police precinct, and the initial call type. From that, the model predicts what kind of emergency response is actually needed.

    The scale was massive. He trained the system on data from 2005 to 2022, with millions of emergency medical service records. Then he tested the results and discovered something wild: the AI wasn’t just keeping up with human dispatchers, it was slightly better.

    That small margin could mean over $123 million saved annually by sending the right help more efficiently.

    But here’s the bigger picture. Pierce didn’t build this in a university lab or under a tech giant. He built it as a high school student, using tools and data that anyone can access.

    What Other Students Can Learn from This

    This isn’t a one-off miracle. More and more high school students are building real, working AI tools that tackle serious problems. Some are using computer vision to detect skin cancer. Others are training language models to flag early signs of depression in teens. The difference usually comes down to whether they have the right mentors, space to explore, and a reason to care.

    That’s where programs like BetterMind Labs come in. We’ve worked with students to help them go beyond theory and actually build projects that solve real-world problems.

    And yes, they also happen to look incredible on college applications.

    What Pierce’s Story Really Shows Us

    It’s easy to think of AI as something distant or overly complex. But the truth is, the tools are here. The knowledge is accessible. And when a teenager like Pierce Wright can train a smarter emergency response system than professionals with decades of experience, it’s a wake-up call.

    Students aren’t just future innovators. They’re already creating things that matter.

    So if you’re a parent wondering what your teen could be doing with their interests in tech, or a student who’s curious about AI but doesn’t know where to start, this is your sign.

    Want to help your teen build something real with AI?

    BetterMind Labs helps high school students learn AI by building meaningful projects. No fluff. No busywork. Just real-world tools, guided by mentors who’ve been there.

    Pierce started with a simple idea. Your teen can too.

    Relevant Links:

  • How an AI Project by High School Students Is Tackling Real-World Problems

    Five high school students created Buddy Bot, an AI chatbot that supports teens dealing with social media stress.

    We usually expect teenagers to scroll through social media, not build tools to combat its effects. But five 9th graders flipped that script when they created Buddy Bot, an AI chatbot designed to check in on users and spot signs of emotional burnout.

    Let’s break it down.

    Their classmates were stuck in what they called “scroll loops,” mindlessly cycling through TikTok, Instagram Reels, and posts without realizing how much time was flying by or how drained they felt after. The team saw the pattern and asked a question: What if a bot could help you get out of that cycle?

    Buddy Bot: An AI Project by High School Students with Heart

    Buddy Bot is an AI project by high school students, which reads your social posts (with permission) and looks for stress signals and language that hints at burnout, fatigue, or sadness. When it notices something off, it doesn’t send an alert or lecture. It just drops in with a short, human-like message. Think of it as a friend nudging you to breathe.

    The project won the Medical Marvels Challenge, not because it used fancy algorithms, but because it tackled a very real mental health problem with care and intention.

    One of the team members, Andrew Runje Dargento, put it plainly:

    “We’ve all experienced firsthand these issues where we’re on our phone hours upon hours, where we should be doing more productive things.”

    That’s the heart of it. The students weren’t building for a grade or resume line. They were building for each other.

    AI With Heart

    There’s a lot of noise about AI right now, with faster processors, bigger models, and smarter code. But Buddy Bot is a reminder that the most impactful AI doesn’t always solve technical problems. Sometimes, it solves human problems.

    At BetterMind Labs, we’ve seen students bring the same emotional clarity to their work.

    Like MindEase, made by Emma in our program, a quiet, thoughtful tool that supports teens through emotional lows. No notifications. No judgment. Just steady, digital companionship.

    Different bots. Same goal.

    Why This Matters (Especially for Parents and Educators)

    We’re in a moment where high schoolers aren’t just consuming tech, they’re shaping it. But the ones who stand out aren’t the ones building for hype. They’re the ones building for people.

    That’s why programs like Medical Marvels and mentorship spaces like BetterMind Labs are so powerful. They don’t just teach coding. They help students connect technology to real life, feelings, friendships, and self-awareness.

    If you’re a parent of a high schooler in the US or Canada, pay attention to these kinds of projects. They’re signals of where education is headed, and how the next generation is learning to care through code.

    Relevant Links:

    Chaminade Wins 13th Medical Marvels Competition – Feinstein Institutes
    https://feinstein.northwell.edu/news/the-latest/chaminade-wins-13th-medical-marvels-competition

    NASA Human Research Program – IWS 2025
    https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/iws-2025/

    NASA HUNCH Program – High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware
    https://nasahunch.com/

    How AI Mental Health Tools Built by High School Students Are Helping Astronauts in Space
    https://www.bettermindlabs.org/post/how-ai-mental-health-tools-built-by-high-school-students-are-helping-astronauts-in-space

    Meet the Students Behind BetterMind Labs
    https://www.bettermindlabs.org/students

    Streamlit – The Fastest Way to Build and Share Data Apps
    https://streamlit.io/

    How Astronauts Take Care of Their Mental Health in Space
    https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/youth-educators/toolkits/mental-health-and-isolation/how-astronauts-take-care-of-their-mental-health-in-space.asp

    BetterMind Labs – AI Projects by High School Students
    https://www.bettermindlabs.org/