Biography

Ruhan Gupta is a rising senior at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas, whose work spans artificial intelligence, education policy, and human-computer interaction. His research focuses on how AI systems can support human decision-making while preserving user agency, principles he believes should guide how schools integrate AI into learning.

His guest essay, "Study This Tool, Kids. Just Don't You Dare Open It," published in The Washington Post in May 2026, argued against age-based restrictions on student AI access. An earlier piece, "Schools Are Fighting AI. Students Will Pay the Price," published in the Austin American-Statesman in December 2025, was highlighted in The New York Times' Morning Newsletter (17 million subscribers) and catalogued by the Texas Legislative Reference Library. His op-ed "When It Comes to Developing AI Rules, Who Asked the Students?" was published in The 74 Million in April 2026.

Beyond advocacy, Ruhan has extensive experience building and scaling educational platforms. He founded Algo, a competitive programming training platform serving over 4,300 users in 90 countries.

His perspective is uncommon in education technology conversations: he brings direct experience as a student navigating institutional AI restrictions, professional-level technical depth in machine learning and software engineering, a research grounding in human-centered AI design, and years of hands-on work building the kinds of learning platforms that institutions debate in theory.

Learn more at ruhangupta.com or connect on LinkedIn.