Scouts can now earn badges in AI and cybersecurity
The new merit badge comes just months after the organization launched a chatbot
Sirisak Boakaew
Scouts can get merit badges for a wide variety of activities, from first aid to swimming to citizenship in the world. Now they can add artificial intelligence and cybersecurity to their sash.
Suggested Reading
Scouting America has unveiled the pair of new badges as part of its 2025 requirements updates. The AI badge comes just months after the Scouts launched a chatbot this summer called Scoutly. That system is designed to answer questions about merit badges and Scouts in general.
Related Content
To earn the AI badge, scouts will have to do some homework, defining several AI terms and showing examples of how AI is currently used in everyday life, school, and the workplace. They'll also have to research ethical concerns around the technology, including taking an ethical-decision making scenario test; research careers in AI; and do some hands-on work with AI, either focused on a personal interest or designing a short-lesson to be taught to their patrol of Scouts.
The new badges have been available for about a week and some scouts have already earned them.
The cybersecurity badge also has an ethics component and research work. Scouts who want that badge will also need to either create their own encryption code, create a checksum for a file or create a PGP (pretty good privacy) email key to encrypt their online messages. They'll also have to perform several security-related actions on a PC, such as running a virus scan and installing and setting up a password manager.
For people who were Scouts long ago, badges in AI might seem a lot different than the camping, cooking, and personal fitness badges they strived to earn. The organization has a long history of technology-focused awards, though, including programming, robotics and nuclear science.