AI Innovation Challenge

Are You Up for a Challenge?

The AI Innovation Challenge aims to position George Brown Polytechnic as a leader in leveraging artificial intelligence to drive innovation and operational excellence in higher education.

The challenge empowers employees to explore the transformative potential of AI by developing practical applications in teaching, learning, research, student support, and institutional operations. It provides a structured opportunity for employees and teams to move from curiosity to responsible experimentation, while building AI literacy, strengthening institutional capacity, and identifying solutions that may be scaled across the polytechnic.

By fostering experimentation, collaboration, and learning, the AI Innovation Challenge supports projects that improve the student experience, enhance operational effectiveness, and contribute to a digitally united George Brown prepared for the future.

The challenge is open to all George Brown Polytechnic employees. Collaborative proposals are encouraged, but each proposal must have a designated lead applicant.

Challenge Streams

AI Innovation Challenge proposals are organized across three broad streams:

1. Teaching & Learning: projects that explore how AI can support course design, assessment, classroom practice, student learning, academic support, or applied learning.
2. Student Support: projects that use AI to improve how students access information, services, guidance, and support across the polytechnic.
3. Operational Efficiency: projects that apply AI to improve workflows, reduce administrative burden, strengthen decision-making, or support more efficient institutional processes.

These streams help organize proposals while still allowing room for creative, cross-functional, and interdisciplinary ideas.

Why this Challenge Matters

Generative AI is changing how people learn, teach, work, create, and solve problems. The AI Innovation Challenge gives George Brown employees a supported way to explore meaningful AI use cases within a responsible institutional framework. Through the challenge, participants can test ideas, develop prototypes, build confidence with AI tools, and work with colleagues across the institution. The challenge is designed to support practical innovation while keeping privacy, security, ethics, accessibility, and human oversight at the centre.

Examples of AI Innovation Challenge Projects

AI Innovation Challenge projects may explore many different areas of institutional need. Examples include:

• Sustainability Analytics: AI analyzes campus energy and waste data to identify efficiencies, reduce costs, and support carbon reduction targets.
• “George” AI Career Assistant: A customized assistant providing 24/7 career guidance for students and alumni, including resume development, interview preparation, and job-search strategy.
• Accessibility & Well-Being Scheduling Optimization: AI assists with complex multi-campus scheduling while supporting accommodation needs and service coverage requirements.
• AI-Integrated Digital Marketing Course Delivery: Students use secure institutional AI tools throughout project work, strengthening applied AI literacy and producing real-world deliverables.
• Assessment & Instruction Alignment: AI analyzes recurring student error patterns to support stronger alignment between assignments, instructions, and learning outcomes.