AGI - Advance, Grow, Innovate with AI · 2026-06-13 · 52 min
EPISODE DESCRIPTION Scouting America rolled out an AI merit badge in fall 2025, and Bryon Haverstick is about to put it in front of around 30 kids at the University of Scouting at Purdue on December 5. Bryon runs scouting across 14 counties in north central Indiana for the Sagamore Council, and the event has grown into the largest University of Scouting in the country, close to 3,000 people from 26 states last year. Jason teaches one of the AI sessions, Michael Witt teaches another, and a Purdue professor runs a third. The two get into what the badge covers: key terminology, where AI shows up in everyday life and work, deepfakes and how to spot them, ethics, and a project where scouts design and teach a lesson of their own. They talk about why scouting's two-deep leadership rule maps cleanly onto keeping kids safe with AI, why Bryon thinks the social media mistake was going hands-off, and how he built a council marketing plan in 30 minutes that would have cost 45 to 60 thousand dollars to hire out. Jason calls his shot too: give kids a beginner's mind and they will show the adults things these machines can do that nobody expected.
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