SF Student Wins International Award For AI Language Model Project

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A San Francisco high school student has won first place in an international artificial intelligence competition for his project that helps Thai-speaking immigrant families.

Arjun Raj, a junior at San Francisco University High School, entered his project at the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY) — a global competition that encourages youth contestants to use their AI knowledge to help solve real-world problems.

More than 10,000 projects were submitted to the competition this year, according to WAICY.

Judges evaluate projects based on technical region, ethical use of AI and real-world impact, Raj said.

"Judges recognized this project for demonstrating how large language models can address gaps in public services and improve educational equity for underrepresented communities," Raj said.

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Raj says he's always been "fascinated" by linguistics and passionate about supporting communities that speak under-resourced or endangered languages, which led him to create the nonprofit Endangered Voices Initiative, where he raises awareness for endangered languages and helps document them.

For the competition, he created the SFUSD Thai Family Liaison GPT, an AI model designed to help Thai-speaking immigrant families navigate the San Francisco Unified School District by reducing language barriers to help them access "the full range of educational resources available to them."

"While SFUSD provides official translations in several major languages, Thai is not currently included, leaving many families struggling to access enrollment, transportation, English learner programs, and other essential services," Raj told Patch. "The AI translates dense school policies into clear, conversational Thai, explains procedures step by step, and provides practical tools such as bilingual email templates, official links, and guidance on communicating with schools."

Because ChatGPT is capable of being used in over 50 languages, Raj says his AI service can be easily adapted to help other families who may be experiencing language barriers across SFUSD or other school districts.

"Eventually, I envision this kind of AI LLM being utilized not only by native Thai speakers at SFUSD, but by Hmong-speaking families at Madison Metropolitan School District, or Bengali families within the New York City public school system, and beyond," Raj said.