"Why Did We Fail in 2036?"

An idea contest will be held to explore potential failures and social risks that may arise in society ten years from now. This is a type of "future-oriented thought experiment" that predicts and investigates the causes and signals of failure from the perspective of citizens.

KAIST

KAIST announced on the 18th that from May 18 to July 17, the Institute for Failure Studies will host the "2026 AIxFailure Idea Contest" under the theme "Why Did We Fail in 2036? Please Write a Wrong Answer Notebook from the Future."

Participants in the contest will have the opportunity to reflect on the possible causes of failure and overlooked signals that could emerge in a future society where AI has become fully integrated.

This year, the contest will introduce the "pre-mortem" technique, which involves assuming failure in advance and analyzing its causes. The pre-mortem method is commonly utilized in the field of organizational psychology.

The Institute for Failure Studies has developed a citizen participation platform (the contest) that encourages society to anticipate and prepare for future risks with social imagination, focusing on the complexities of failure in the AI era. These failures may go beyond mere technical errors and could involve human judgment, social systems, and changes in relationships.

The motto of this year's contest is that imagining and reflecting on future failures, rather than simply forecasting technological trends, can be an important social learning experience in itself.

Accordingly, the contest focuses on insight and logical reasoning skills to imagine failure, rather than on specific technical ideas or implementation abilities. Participants are required to submit a one-page proposal following a three-step structure: ▲ anticipated failure ▲ diagnosis of causes ▲ response strategies.

Proposals must be submitted online. The top 10 teams, selected through an initial document screening, will advance to the finals and award ceremony to be held in August at KAIST's main campus in Daejeon.

The total prize fund is 10 million won. The grand prize team will receive the KAIST President's Award and 3 million won, the top excellence award team will receive 2 million won, two excellence award teams will each receive 1 million won, and six challenge award teams will each receive 500,000 won.

Further details regarding the contest can be found on the KAIST Institute for Failure Studies website.

KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee stated, "In the AI era, new possibilities and unexpected failures may arise simultaneously. At KAIST, we see failure not as something to be hidden, but as an important learning process to prepare for the future, and we will continue to seek better directions for society."

Meanwhile, last year's contest drew participation from 111 teams of undergraduate and graduate students nationwide, demonstrating strong interest in the failures of the AI era and the issue of human-technology coexistence. This year, the Institute for Failure Studies plans to expand eligibility from university students to the general public, allowing for a more diverse exploration of future failures from various perspectives.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.