This summer, Boise State Games, Interactive Media and Mobile Technology (GIMM) student Audrey Norris was invited to speak at a United Nations conference about young peoples’ experiences with AI.
The event, World Youth Skills Day 2025: Empowering Youth through AI and Digital Innovation, invited United Nations officials, policy-makers, educators and youth leaders to the UN Headquarters in New York City. There they heard from experts about the importance of AI education in preparing students for the future.
Norris, who expects to graduate in spring 2026, was the only student who spoke at UN Headquarters for the event.
“My generation must bear the full weight of responsibility on how AI is handled, whether to use it, how to use it and when to resist it,” Norris said in her address. “As long as we treat AI as a supplement, not a substitute and as long as education equips us with critical thinking and ethical grounding we’ll be ready for whatever comes next.”
This opportunity came about thanks to Norris’s involvement in SkillsUSA, a workforce development organization for students. She is the former national president of the organization and has been involved with the Idaho chapter throughout her time at Boise State.
When SkillsUSA administrators were looking for a student voice, Norris was a clear choice. “I had had conversations with [them] previously about AI and GIMM interacts with it a lot,” she said. “GIMM focuses on emerging technologies, and so when AI started to become a thing [our professors] wanted us to get familiar with it.”
Norris has a strong technical background in both AI and computer programming, which she uses in GIMM Works, a program in the department that places students on real working projects at the intersection of technical and artistic expertise. Since joining the GIMM Works team at the end of her freshman year, Norris has risen to lead developer.
That work experience will support Norris as she prepares to graduate. “Finding a job in the interactive application sector or video game development would be great,” she said, though she understands that the industry is changing rapidly alongside developments in AI.
“The ethos of GIMM has always been about getting a job in this industry that moves so quickly,” Norris said. “It’s less about knowing specific software and equipment and more about adapting and constantly learning new technologies. Having that experience makes me feel confident that I will be able to find a place, even as the industry continues to shift and evolve.”