Alpine School District students in grades 10 through 12 can enter a statewide essay contest proposing AI policy for Utah schools. Essays are due Thursday, Oct. 1.

The "Shaping Utah's AI Future" contest offers cash prizes up to $1,000 and a seat at a student policy congress at the Utah State Capitol. Students at Lone Peak, Skyridge and Lehi high schools are among those eligible.

The contest is sponsored by the Utah Senate, the Sutherland Institute, the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools (UAPCS). It is open to students in public schools, charter schools, private schools, microschools and homeschool programs.

Each essay must be 1,000 to 1,500 words, written without AI assistance. The central prompt asks students to answer: who should decide which AI tools schools are allowed to use, and how should that decision get made?

Students also pick one of six policy topics, ranging from teacher discretion over classroom AI use to student privacy, academic integrity and how schools purchase AI tools, according to KSL.

"AI has kind of popped up on all of us, and we're all trying to figure out how we use it and what guardrails we should have around it," Sutherland Institute President and CEO Todd Weiler told KSL on Monday, Sept. 14.

The top three essays statewide will receive $1,000, $500 and $250. Winners and 29 Senate district delegates will be announced Oct. 15. One student from each of Utah's 29 Senate districts will then travel to the Capitol for the Utah Student AI Policy Congress on Friday, Nov. 20, and Saturday, Nov. 21.

At the congress, student delegates will caucus, debate AI proposals on the Senate floor and vote on a Utah Student AI Policy Resolution that will be presented to state policymakers.

The contest comes as Utah expands AI tools in classrooms. USBE partnered with Google's Gemini for Education in June, rolling out the platform to all K-12 schools this school year, the Herald Journal reported. The state board also published a 16-page AI guide in March outlining responsible and prohibited uses of AI in classrooms.

Full contest rules and submission details are available on the Sutherland Institute website.