A 17-year-old Toronto student is developing an artificial intelligence-powered website designed to help people experiencing homelessness find essential community services more easily.
Nathan Han, a Grade 11 student at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School, hopes the platform will bring information about shelters, food programs and other resources together in one accessible location. The proposed system would also use translation and location-based features to help users identify nearby services.
Han, who has participated in international robotics competitions, reportedly spends six to eight hours a day coding the platform. He is aiming to launch the website by the end of October, although it has not yet been publicly released or independently evaluated.
The project demonstrates how artificial intelligence could be applied to practical community needs. However, any digital platform of this kind would require frequently updated information, privacy safeguards and options for people who do not have reliable internet access.
