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Seniors Lucy Studebaker, Sydney Savatt, Brandon Smidl, and Lexi Mannion enjoyed a special lunch, private tour, and small awards ceremony at Duquesne University on Friday, April 25th, to recognize their winning submissions in the inaugural Youth Ethicist Essay Competition. 
Sponsored by the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics at Duquesne, this new essay competition was a core component for students within one of the new semester long Honors English 12 courses at Avonworth, AI and Ethics. Each senior focused on a career field or core component to their identity and then researched how generative AI tools and products might be transforming their specific community within an ethical framework.
First place winner Lucy Studebaker earned a $250 prize as she focused on her faith and how generative AI tools and products were marketed to Catholics. Second place winner Sydney Savatt won a $150 prize while articulating how generative AI allowed her to review and position herself as a top softball recruit on the way towards her sport scholarship offer from Rider University. Brandon Smidl won a $50 prize for his third place essay exploring the impacts of Google’s Deepfold technology within Biological Research. Lexi Mannion earned an honorable mention for articulating how generative AI should and should not impact early childhood education.
Lucy, as well as the three other winners, were also invited to attend and volunteer at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research earlier in April. Lucy joined Honors 12 teacher Mr. Tuffiash and Center for Ethics Program Manager Dr. Mia Briceno and Center Director Dr. John P. Slattery at the Convention Center for the final day of the conference, where alumni Danica Raich joined hundreds of presenters sharing research across disciplines before the keynote speaker and closing ceremonies.
To read each winning essay, please visit the Duquesne Center for Ethics website and choose the High School Essay Competition tab here.
