'Ten years ago, not having your own website meant losing your place in the digital world. Five years ago, it was GitHub. And today? If you're not experimenting with AI, you're missing out on one of the most valuable opportunities of our time'. That’s the message from Viktor Kauk, a digital innovation expert, who recently spoke at the Pre-Junior Stream by EPAM Campus. He didn’t just talk about AI — he demonstrated how it’s becoming an everyday tool, and even a potential source of income, for everyone from middle schoolers to college students.
How to become a millionaire while your parents ask you to clean your room
Inspired by healthy eating, a group of 16-year-old students in the U.S. decided to build something useful: an app that calculates the calories in a meal just by analyzing a photo. They weren’t expert programmers — just curious and motivated. And thanks to AI, they pulled it off.
Using Claude, one of the most advanced AI models available, they were able to:
- Analyze food photos and identify ingredients,
- Calculate calories based on a nutritional database,
- And even suggest what to eat for dinner to stay within your daily limits.
Within weeks, their app became a hit — breaking into the top 10 in the “Health & Fitness” category. Less than a year later, it had five million users... and serious market value. Here’s the key: they built it themselves. No investors. No fancy degrees. Just an idea, determination — and AI.
This isn’t the exception — it’s the new reality. The role of software developers is set to shift dramatically with the spread of artificial intelligence. Today, you don’t need to be a math genius or coding expert — AI lets you build apps, games, bots, websites, generate images and music — often with just a few clicks.
So, is AI really that smart already?
Yes. And it’s getting smarter every day. Recently, an AI from Google DeepMind solved 3 out of 10 problems at the International Mathematical Olympiad — a score many human contestants couldn't beat.
What else can AI do? Here are some ideas:
- Collect news from websites and compile it into a personalized digest.
- Create a tailored learning path based on your interests — not just your school curriculum.
- Make predictions — from exchange rates to sports scores. (Still working on lottery numbers, though😊)
AI trends to watch
- AI as Your Personal Assistant: Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini can now act as tutors, consultants, and mentors — helping you plan, study, or make better decisions.
- Visual AI — Expanding Creative Boundaries: Midjourney, DALL·E, RunwayML and similar tools turn text prompts into images, animations, and videos. Some digital artists are now exhibiting their AI-generated work in galleries without ever touching a paintbrush.
- AI + Code = Fast Project Launch: Want to launch a project fast? Replit, GitHub Copilot, and Pinokio let you generate code from plain English. Try asking: “Build a calorie calculator in JavaScript” — and you’ll have working code in minutes.
- A New Generation of Search Engines: Instead of Google — use Perplexity, Phind, You.com. They provide direct, explained answers, not just links. Ideal for learning and breaking down complex concepts.
- New Careers in AI
The AI revolution is creating entirely new roles, such as:
- AI Algorithm Auditor — checks how models work
- AI Trainer — teaches AI models
- Ethical AI Hacker — tests systems for vulnerabilities, finds flaws and prevents misuse
These aren’t widely taught in universities yet — but companies are already hiring.
Your AI starter pack
- ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Qwen — your personal assistants, teachers, programmers, and creatives. Each model has its own strengths — use several for comparison and inspiration.
- AI Studio — Transcribe lectures, brainstorm content, or record ideas as audio and turn them into text. Perfect for lecture transcripts or content creation.
- Notebook LM (by Google) — your personal researcher. Upload documents, presentations, or PDFs and get summaries, insights, and Q&A responses.
- Perplexity, Phind, You.com — next-gen search engines that understand your query and explain it. Especially helpful for learning and coding.
- Copilot, Replit, Pinokio — want to program without writing code? Just describe what you want, and AI will do the rest. Want to build a game, make a music video, write a paper, plan your learning, or generate a startup idea? Just ask.
You can explore a full list of useful AI tools here.
Are you an observer — or a creator?
The world is being reshaped by technology at lightning speed. You can watch it happen from the sidelines — or step in and start shaping the future. EPAM Campus is your gateway to the tech world. Join in.
