AI & Society’s first Community AI Hackathon

💡 THINK. BUILD. IMPACT.
Welcome to AI & Society’s first Community AI Hackathon — a one-day civic AI build sprint exploring how AI can help solve real-world problems.
This isn’t a traditional coding competition or startup pitch event.
It’s a human-centred, community-led day designed for people who want to experiment, collaborate, learn, and prototype ideas using AI tools.
No coding experience required.
Whether you’re a founder, student, designer, researcher, policymaker, creative, engineer, strategist, or simply curious about AI — this event is designed to bring together people from different backgrounds to think and build together.
Over the course of the day, participants will:
→ Form teams around shared problems or ideas
→ Rapidly prototype concepts, workflows, GPTs, automations, mockups or early-stage solutions
→ Share learnings and demos with the community
🌏 Challenge areas include:
• Cities & communities of the future
• Health, care & human connection
• Climate & sustainability
• Learning, work & opportunity
• Or bring your own problem to explore
🏆 Community awards.
⚡ IMPORTANT:
This is the very first edition of this format.
The event was originally shared as an experiment to gauge community interest in a more hands-on AI & Society experience — and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
So we’re going ahead.
Rather than a polished corporate hackathon, think of this as an experimental, collaborative and community-first build day. We’re intentionally keeping the format lightweight, accessible and open to iteration as we learn together.
🧠 You do not need to know how to code.
You just need curiosity, openness, and a willingness to explore ideas with others.
WHAT TO BRING
💻 Laptop (essential)
🔑 Free account for ChatGPT, Claude or similar tools
💡 A problem you care about — or come open and we’ll help you find one
☕ FOOD & DRINKS
Please bring a water bottle and anything you may need throughout the day.
There’s no cafe onsite at Ashgrove Library, however Home Cafe Ashgrove is a short walk away (~9 minutes / 650m), and we’ll likely head there together during the lunch break for coffee, conversation and walking inspiration.
You’re also very welcome to bring your own lunch.
We’ll have light snacks, chocolates, instant coffee and tea available throughout the day.
ABOUT AI & SOCIETY
AI & Society is a national community exploring what artificial intelligence means for the way we live, work and build communities.
We run seminars, workshops, roundtables and hands-on labs across Australia — always with real people, real questions and real conversation at the centre.