Candide AI academy · Doha
Founding term · Doha Join the list
Founding termDoha · ages 8–12 · 20 places

Kids shouldn’t just use AI. They should create with it.

Candide is an after-school AI academy in Doha. In small groups, children aged 8 to 12 invent a creature, write its adventure and premiere its trailer. Along the way they learn to shape an idea, test it, judge the result and make it better.

Join the founding list See the programme

No payment today · founding families hear first about dates, venue and fees

Project 01 · Invent a creature Version 3 · kept
Described by the child

“round and friendly, two horns, one tooth, standing on a moon”

What the child can explainIllustration
  • My own idea
  • What the AI added
  • What went wrong
  • What I changed, and why
Illustration of a child’s project page: the creature they kept, the description they wrote, and the four things they can explain about it.

Term 01 · Create your own universe

Three projects, one world that’s entirely theirs. Each project builds on the last. By week eight your child has a creature, a story and a trailer, and can explain how they made every part of it.

Project 01 · weeks 1 → 2

Invent a creature

An original character with its own powers, habitat and look.

  • Describing precisely
  • Constraints
  • Iterating
Project 02 · weeks 3 → 5

Write its adventure

A short illustrated story with the creature as its hero.

  • Story structure
  • Cause and effect
  • Editing
Project 03 · weeks 6 → 7

Bring the world to life

A short narrated trailer for the universe they’ve built.

  • Storyboarding
  • Sequencing
  • Teamwork
  • Presenting
Week 8

The showcase

Parents are invited. Each child presents their universe and explains the choices behind it.

See it week by week →

The Candide method

AI is the tool. Creativity is the curriculum. A beautiful image doesn’t prove a child learned anything, so every Candide project ends the same way: the child explains their work.

Four questions every child can answer

4
Asked at the end of every project
  1. Question 1
    What was my own idea?Every project starts away from the screen, with a sketch, a few sentences or a conversation. The idea is theirs before any AI is involved.
  2. Question 2
    What did the AI contribute?Children learn to tell their own choices apart from what the tool produced, and to say so honestly.
  3. Question 3
    What went wrong?First results are rarely right. We treat the misses as the interesting part: why didn’t it come out the way you pictured it?
  4. Question 4
    What did I change, and why?They revise, compare versions and justify the one they keep. That habit is what we’re really teaching.

For parents

You’ll see the progress, not just the result. We want you to watch creativity, communication and independence grow alongside the AI skills, so we show you the work as it develops.

What you receive

From enrolment to showcase
  • A clear planWhat your child is going to make and what they’ll learn from it.
    Before term
  • A short updateA brief note after each session with the milestone your child reached.
    Every week
  • A portfolio that shows the journeyEarly attempts sit next to the improved versions, so you can see what changed.
    All term
  • A showcaseYour child presents their world to you and explains how they built it.
    Week 8

Portfolio · project 01

3 versions
Version 1 “a monster”
Version 2 “a round, friendly monster with two horns”
Kept “round and friendly, two horns, one tooth, standing on a moon”
What I changed, and why

“My first one looked scary. I wanted friendly, so I said round, smiling and one tooth.”

Illustration of how a portfolio page shows progress.

Safety and supervision

Designed for children, run by adults. Children use AI at Candide the way they’d use a kiln or a science lab: with the right equipment and an adult close by.

Supervised throughout

Two adults in every session, for a group of no more than ten children.

Age-appropriate tools

We check each tool for suitability and access before it goes in front of a child.

With your consent

You see which tools we use and give your consent before the term begins.

Careful with their information

We keep what we hold about your child to a minimum and control how it’s handled.

Built in Qatar, made to grow

Starting small, on purpose. We’d rather teach twenty children well than promise a school before we’ve earned it. The long-term ambition is a school for the AI generation.

From one term to a school

Each step has to be justified by the one before
  1. 01
    Founding termOne programme, one age group, two small groups in Doha.
    Now
  2. 02
    More groups, age tracks and holiday camps
    Next
  3. 03
    Candide inside partner schools
    Later
  4. 04
    A Candide centre
    Later
  5. 05
    Candide School
    The ambition

Questions

What parents ask first

Ask us something else →
Does my child need experience with AI or coding?

No. There’s no coding, and we start from zero with the AI tools. What helps is being able to read instructions, explain a choice and work with a little independence, which is why the founding term is for ages 8 to 12.

Is this just more screen time?

About 35 of the 90 minutes are hands-on building with AI tools. The rest is spent discussing examples, planning on paper, watching a short demonstration and presenting work to the group. See how a session runs →

Which AI tools will my child use?

Established tools, each one checked for age suitability and access. Enrolled families receive the list with the consent form before the term starts.

When and where does it run?

In person in Doha, once a week for eight weeks. We’re confirming the venue and dates now, and families on the founding list will hear first.

How much does it cost?

We’ll share the fee for the founding term with the founding list, together with the dates and venue. Joining the list is free and doesn’t commit you to anything.

My child is 6 or 7. Can they join?

Not this term. A programme for younger children, with shorter sessions and more guided activities, is planned for later. Join the founding list, choose that age, and we’ll tell you when it opens.

What does my child take home at the end?

A portfolio with their creature, their illustrated story and their trailer, including the early versions and what they changed along the way.

Twenty places, one founding term

We’re inviting a small group of Doha families to join the first Candide term and help shape what it becomes next.

Join the founding list