This activity consists of classroom instruction and hands-on exercises to teach AI-enhanced software development techniques.

We will be covering multiple requirements for Scouting America’s Artificial Intelligence merit badge.

These lessons will cover topics such as basic AI knowledge, how AI impacts daily life, prompt engineering, ethics and AI, and of course, accelerating software development with AI.

More specifically, participants will learn how to use a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Claude to create a software specification for a software program of their choice. They will then use a vibe coding tool like codex, Lovable or bolt.new to generate the code to make the application a reality. 

We will have some suggested applications but will allow the participants to use their imagination to explore and create whatever they want. In addition, we will create different exercises appropriate to the participants age and programming experience. These exercises will lead the participant through the discovery process, specification writing, software development, and automated testing. Exercises will include questions related to the ethics of AI and how it impacts their project.

Tools like codex can help less experienced participants create simple, small software applications, whereas Lovable and bolt.new can create highly sophisticated software that can then be hosted and published to the web. The goal is to learn how to program by taking advantage of modern AI tools, as well as help participants realize their level of interest in a career that includes programming.