Students’ “messages in a bottle” bring the fifth edition of Roll Cloud to a close
The final regional stage of the fifth edition of Roll Cloud. Working in the Cloud came to a close at the prestigious OGR venue in Turin. The project, promoted by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale as part of the Opening Future programme in collaboration with Google Cloud, Intesa Sanpaolo and TIM Enterprise, aims to guide young people in discovering cloud computing and artificial intelligence to steer them towards the careers of the future.
Creative Day saw the participation of around 40 students from the Liceo Pellico Peano in Cuneo, the IIS Vittorio Alfieri in Asti and the IC Vergante in Nivorio. After completing an online training course with industry experts, the students were asked to create a ‘message in a bottle’ for the future, transforming a written reflection into a visual narrative.
Humans and AI: A Comparison
The Creative Day challenge tested the students’ critical and creative abilities through a comparative exercise:
- Freehand drawing: the teams initially depicted their message graphically in a traditional manner.
- AI-generated image: subsequently, the students worked on writing prompts to generate an image using artificial intelligence that best illustrated their idea.
- Critical reflection: participants compared the two results to identify which of the two images best conveyed the depth of their story.
The winning teams
The expert jury awarded prizes to three projects that stood out for the originality and social impact of their messages:
1st Place: the Paw Patrol team (Liceo Pellico Peano, Cuneo). Comprising Maddalena, Anna, Gaia, Virginia and Alice, the group presented ‘Artificial minds, real emotions’. Their work reflects on mental health, emphasising that, although AI can make support more accessible, it can never replace the empathy of a human heart.
2nd Place: the Liberatidus team. Sofia, Anastasia, Alessia, Dante Jacopo and Giada presented ‘Sculpt man, kill the echo’, an invitation to have the courage to be oneself and to resist social conformity. Their project highlights the contrast between the dullness of others’ judgements and the vibrancy of one’s own identity.
3rd Place: team LMSD. Sidesh, Lorenzo, Marco and Dennis focused on the use of technology for the common good, illustrating how an app can tangibly support the independence of people with physical disabilities.
The event in Turin brings to a close a cycle dedicated to the development of digital and soft skills, confirming the importance of tools such as the cloud and AI in students’ educational journey.
