Grade 9 Redhill School learner Swapnika Kasireddy has taken second place nationally in the Royal Society of South Africa’s annual essay competition after exploring the relationship between artificial intelligence and nuclear power in her essay, Feeding the Machine: Nuclear Power in the Age of AI.

Out of three options, the AI and nuclear energy prompt immediately stood out to Swapnika because of her ambition to become an engineer. She said AI is already a massive part of daily life, and she wanted to investigate the topic further. Her interest in history also influenced her approach. While nuclear energy is often associated with its destructive use in warfare, Swapnika wanted to examine whether the technology could be used differently. “Seeing how we could use it for the better rather than the worst made me interested to take the topic,” she said.

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Researching the subject also challenged some of her own assumptions about nuclear energy. She said she previously viewed nuclear energy largely in a negative light, but her research introduced her to its potential benefits, including its ability to produce large amounts of energy alongside renewable energy sources. “I’ve always viewed it as something negative, but then after researching, I thought, ‘Oh, there’s actually some pros to nuclear energy’.”

Her essay considered both sides of the debate, including nuclear power’s reliability and energy output, as well as concerns around cost, radioactive waste and safety.

Rather than arriving at a simple yes-or-no answer, Swapnika argued for a broader energy mix that could include nuclear power, renewable energy, battery storage and smarter energy systems. Her experience in debating helped shape that conclusion.

As a debater, she is accustomed to considering opposing arguments and recognising that complex issues rarely have straightforward answers. “There are so many arguments. Yes, we should use nuclear energy because it’s clean, but it produces radioactive waste, but then, no, we shouldn’t use nuclear energy because it’s so expensive, but it has its pros.”

For Swapnika, bringing different energy sources together ultimately made more sense than relying on a single solution. “It just made sense to me.”

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The essay took almost four weeks to complete and required extensive research and sourcing. Balancing the project with schoolwork, sport and other competitions proved to be one of her biggest challenges.

Swapnika also competes in mathematics competitions, and recently travelled overseas for a mathematics competition, adding to an already busy schedule, but she said motivation was another challenge, particularly when she began doubting whether her ideas were strong enough. “I think motivation with students is a big thing, especially with teenagers. They keep demotivating and undervaluing themselves,” she said. That self-doubt disappeared when she discovered she had placed second nationally.

The achievement was particularly meaningful for Swapnika, who joined Redhill School two years ago after moving from a government school. Since then, she has pushed herself to participate in academic competitions and compete against learners from across the country. She said the result gave her a significant confidence boost.

“It was a good feeling to have. It boosted my morale and everything.”

The experience has also strengthened her interest in the fields she hopes to explore in the future. Swapnika has long wanted to become an engineer, but her research into artificial intelligence and nuclear energy has opened up new possibilities.

“I always wanted to do engineering, but after looking at AI and nuclear energy, I definitely could see myself maybe going into that field one day. I want to make an impact in the world.”

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