Judging AI hackathon projects: what to check when every team says 'we used AI'
At an AI hackathon in 2026, every team 'used AI'. Half of them mean an API key and a prompt. Some mean a retrieval pipeline they tuned for 30 hours. From the pitch alone you can't tell which — and that's the judging problem.
At an AI hackathon in 2026, every team 'used AI'. Half of them mean an API key and a prompt. Some mean a retrieval pipeline they tuned for 30 hours. From the pitch alone you can't tell which — and that's the judging problem. Here are the checks I'd bring to any AI-themed panel: the six questions that separate a wrapper from a system, what a working demo means when the model is non-deterministic, and how to score a team that built the boring part well. Organisers: I'm open to judge AI hackathons — rubric published in advance, written feedback for every team. I also build tools.scult.in — 15 free tools, 1,200+ prompts and a 50,000-skill library, free for anyone, no signup.
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