The person behind SAYA
Why this exists
A student-built project, made because this felt too important to wait for someone else to build it.
Sathwika Atchukola
Founder, SAYA
Sathwika is a senior at Cumberland High School who built SAYA because she kept noticing the same gap: young people are using AI every single day, but almost nobody is talking to them directly about what that actually means for their minds and their relationships.
SAYA is her attempt to close that gap — a straightforward, honest space that teaches seniors and young adults to think clearly about AI, instead of just absorbing it.
The spark
Sathwika's interest in this started in an AI literacy class at Marist. Learning how these systems actually work — and how easily their limits get overlooked — made her realize how few young people get that same education. SAYA grew out of wanting to hand that awareness to her own generation.
The goal
SAYA's goal is AI literacy and AI ethics, taught the way a peer would explain it. Not just how to use AI, but how it actually works, where it gets things wrong, whose biases it carries, and what's at stake ethically when a technology this powerful shapes how you think, decide, and connect with people. Understanding that is what keeps you in control of the tool, instead of the other way around.
Why SAYA matters
01
An underseen issue
AI's effect on teen mental health barely gets talked about compared to how fast the technology has spread — even as researchers raise real concerns.
02
Real stakes
This isn't hypothetical. Reporters and researchers have documented real, tragic cases tied to teens' relationships with AI companions — it's a risk worth taking seriously.
03
Awareness first
Most seniors and young adults haven't been taught how these tools work, where they fall short, or how to use them without losing themselves in the process. That's the piece SAYA is built to teach.
Mission & Methodology
Ethical AI education for everyone.
Our mission is simple: to ensure that the generation inheriting AI technology is equipped to understand, question, and control it. We believe that digital literacy in the 21st century must include a fundamental understanding of machine learning algorithms, data privacy, and the ethical implications of generative models.
Built by teens, for teens.
Most AI safety documentation is written by researchers, for researchers. It is dense, jargon-heavy, and unapproachable. SAYA's methodology is different:
- Jargon-Free: We translate complex computer science into accessible concepts.
- Actionable: We don't just say "be careful." We provide prompt templates, checklists, and sandbox scenarios.
- Emotionally Aware: We directly address the psychological impact of AI companionship.
Our Mission in Detail
Digital literacy for the generative age.
For years, "digital literacy" meant teaching kids how to spot a phishing email or how to create a strong password. Generative AI fundamentally broke that model. When a machine can converse fluently, write essays, and generate photorealistic images of events that never happened, the old rules no longer apply.
SAYA was built to fill the massive gap in the current education system. We believe that all generations deserve an honest, hype-free explanation of what AI is and what it isn't. Fearmongering doesn't work, and blind adoption is dangerous. True safety comes from deep, technical understanding.
See the research behind this
Learn breaks it down — four cards, five minutes.