Our Workshops in Action
See how we're empowering students across different age groups to build critical thinking and AI skills.
Community Workshops
Interactive sessions in community spaces help youth understand digital mindfulness
Hands-On Learning
Students explore AI systems and learn to identify manipulative design patterns
Youth Leadership
Teen ambassadors lead workshops and mentor younger peers in digital literacy
Building Community
Creating a movement of digitally empowered youth protecting cognitive freedom
MindShield Extension
Our browser extension helps people identify and resist manipulation techniques in digital content.
Learn MoreEducational Workshops
Interactive sessions for elementary and middle school students to develop critical thinking skills. High schoolers can lead programs and earn volunteer hours!
Youth Leadership
We empower young people to become ambassadors for digital wellbeing, leading workshops and shaping the future of ethical technology.
Get InvolvedMindShield Browser Extension
An AI-powered Chrome Extension that detects manipulative design patterns and protects your cognitive freedom while browsing online.
MindShield Focus Areas
Education Over Restriction: Empowers users to identify manipulation tactics across all websites and provides techniques to avoid traps rather than just blocking access.
Real-Time Learning: Encourages mindful navigation of challenging content while maintaining access to essential information and sites.
Regaining Control: By understanding mechanisms such as infinite scroll, phantom notifications, and emotional triggers, users can reclaim the ability to choose how they interact with technology.
Protecting Your Resources: Awareness of these tactics enables protection of your time, mental energy, and decision-making autonomy.
Make Informed Choices: Recognizing manipulation patterns is the critical first step toward maintaining digital freedom and intentional browsing.
Content Analysis
Automatically detects potentially misleading content and provides educational context to help students make informed decisions.
Bias Detection
Identifies potential bias in news articles and opinion pieces, helping students recognize different perspectives.
Progress Tracking
Monitor your critical thinking development over time with detailed analytics and personalized feedback.
See It In Action
MindShield analyzes websites in real time and surfaces the manipulation patterns they use.
Download From Chrome Web Store
Start protecting your cognitive freedom with our free browser extension.
Download NowEducational Workshops
CogniCode offers engaging workshops designed to build digital literacy and technical skills (Python and AI/ML concepts). Our programs are tailored for the youth at different programming levels.
Workshops
Grades: 4-8
Duration: 60-minute interactive sessions
Focus:
- Students explore how AI systems work and how they shape attention and emotion through hands-on experiments.
Format: Hands-on activities, group discussions, and real-world examples
Schedule Workshop
High School Chapter Program
Grades: 9-12
Join CogniCode!
- High school students can earn verified volunteer hours by leading workshops, mentoring younger peers, and helping build tools like MindShield or contributing to our Substack CogniNotes!
Application Process: Send us an email!
Apply NowOur Workshops in Action
See how we're empowering students across different age groups to build critical thinking and AI skills.
Community Workshops
Interactive sessions in community spaces help youth understand digital mindfulness
Hands-On Learning
Students explore AI systems and learn to identify manipulative design patterns
Youth Leadership
Teen ambassadors lead workshops and mentor younger peers in digital literacy
Building Community
Creating a movement of digitally empowered youth protecting cognitive freedom
CogniCode Global Fellowship
A four-week program for young people building AI literacy and cognitive autonomy where it is needed most. Learn how AI systems shape human thinking, then build your own AI project designed to protect it.
Why This Fellowship Exists
AI systems now mediate how people learn, decide, and form beliefs. The tools that shape attention and judgment are deployed everywhere, but the education needed to recognize and resist them is not given to the youth.
The CogniCode Global Fellowship is built for the people that are left out of that conversation and are affected by it first. Fellows learn what cognitive autonomy is, how AI systems can violate it, and how to build and teach against that violation in their own communities and languages.
You do not need to be a programmer. You do not need to pay anything.
Four Weeks
Materials are given each Monday. You work at your own pace and join a weekly live session, which is always recorded.
Cognitive Autonomy
How the Systems Work
Building for Human Flourishing
Local Translation and Chapter Launch
You Will Build Your Own AI Project
Every fellow finishes this fellowship having built something. A project of your own design, built around a single question: How does my project protect human flourishing?
Every project will also include documentation: who is the user, what does success look like for them, and how does your project support that.
A tool
A browser extension, a bot, an app, a script. Something that runs and that someone can use.
An intervention
A prompt system, a design prototype, a redesign of an interface that removes its extractive mechanics.
Building on CogniCode Curriculum
The CogniCode curriculum adapted into your language and context, with an AI component you design. Have the opporutnity to integrate your material with CogniCode's curriculum.
Something we haven't thought of
Propose it in Week 3. If it protects cognitive autonomy and you built it, it counts.
You do not need to code. Some fellows will write Python. Others will build with no-code tools, design prototypes, or prompt-based systems. The requirement is that you build, not that you build in a particular language.
Start a Chapter
The fellowship is four weeks. A chapter lasts. Fellows who want to keep going graduate into recognized CogniCode chapter leads, with the full toolkit and ongoing support.
What you get: the CogniCode curriculum, slide decks, activity guides, outreach templates.
What we ask: at least one co-leads, a host institution such as a school or library, three workshops in your first six months. Chapters never charge participants anything.
What You Need to Take Part
Low bandwidth is fine. Nothing is live-only. Every session is recorded, and low-resolution versions are available.
No coding experience required.
Expect 3 to 5 hours a week.
MindShield is a Chrome extension and needs a computer.
Timeline
All dates 2026.
Applications open
Fellow applications are both live. We review on a rolling basis.
Applications close
Apply early. You get your Slack invite as soon as you submit.
Fellowship begins
Week 1 materials drop. The kickoff session is recorded for every time zone.
Global Showcase and certificates
Chapters launch.
Questions
Does it cost anything?
No. The fellowship is free and always will be. We do not charge fellows, and recognized chapters are never permitted to charge participants.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Every fellow builds a project, but not every fellow writes code. Some build with Python, others with no-code tools, design prototypes, or prompt-based systems. The requirement is that you build something — not that you build it in a particular language. Week 2 has both a coding track and a non-coding track, and they earn identical credit.
What does "your own AI project" actually mean?
Something you design and build that protects cognitive autonomy rather than eroding it. A browser extension, a bot, a prompt system, a design prototype, a redesigned interface, a localized curriculum with an AI component. You scope it in Week 3 and ship it by August 28. Every project comes with a Flourishing Spec — a short document naming who the user is, what success looks like for them, what exploitation would look like, and what you refused to build.
How much time does it take?
3 to 5 hours a week for four weeks, self-paced, plus one live session.
Is it live? What about my time zone?
There is one live session each week, and it is always recorded and posted afterward. Nothing is live-only. If the time does not work where you are, watch the recording, you will not fall behind.
What happens after I apply?
You get a Slack invite immediately. Join right away since that is where the materials, your section, and everything else will be. The fellowship begins August 1.
I am under 18. Can I apply?
Yes. Fellows must be at least 12.
Do I have to start a chapter?
No. Starting a chapter is separate from your capstone project. It is encouraged, and we give you everything you need to do it, but it is not required to complete the fellowship or receive a certificate.
What do I get at the end?
A certificate, a public listing on the CogniCode alumni page, and a capstone project that is yours to show. Strong writers are published in CogniNotes. Strong builders are credited as MindShield contributors. Strong leads are invited back as section leads for the next cohort.
Which countries is this for?
Anyone anywhere may apply.
What language is it in?
Materials are delivered in English.
Apply
Applications close July 31 and the fellowship begins August 1. The application takes about ten minutes, and you get your Slack invite the moment you submit.
Apply to the FellowshipAbout CogniCode
CogniCode is a youth-led initiative defending cognitive liberty in the age of AI. We teach not just how AI works, but also how it influences attention, behavior, and decision-making so young people can protect their cognitive autonomy and participate meaningfully in a democratic society transformed by technology.
Our Mission
Use hands-on experiments and Python to explain AI concepts in the context of ethics.
Our Approach
Rather than promoting fear or avoidance of AI technology, we focus on building genuine understanding and agency. Our programs emphasize hands-on learning, critical thinking development, and ethical reasoning.
Core Principles
Education Over Restriction: We believe young people need to understand the technology they are growing up with.
Practical Agency: Our goal is to develop real-world skills that students can apply immediately in their digital lives.
Ethical Technology Use: We promote approaches to AI that enhance rather than replace human capabilities and judgment.
Community-Centered: We work in community spaces to create supportive environments for digital wellbeing.
Meet Our Team
CogniCode is led by passionate high schoolers committed to responsible AI and its direct effects on people.
Shivanshi Dutt
Shivanshi Dutt is the founder of CogniCode, a youth-led initiative focused on defending cognitive liberty in the age of artificial intelligence. Passionate about AI-human interaction, she is especially interested in how AI systems influence learning, decision-making, and democratic participation. Through workshops, she works to equip students with the technical knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to remain autonomous and informed in an increasingly algorithmic world.
Join Our Mission
Whether you're an educator, parent, student, or community leader, there are many ways to get involved with CogniCode's work.
Contact UsGet in Touch
Have questions about our workshops, extension, or want to partner with us? Feel free to reach out to us!