Handshake and OpenAI turn AI skills into shareable student projects

The new AI Skills Studio gives students and early-career learners guided missions built around practical tasks, starting with creating and publishing a multiplayer game using ChatGPT Work

OpenAI is a founding partner of Handshake’s AI Skills Studio, which gives students guided projects designed to build practical AI skills

Handshake has launched AI Skills Studio, a new project-based learning initiative designed to help students and early-career learners practice using AI and produce work they can show to prospective employers.

OpenAI is a founding partner of the initiative, with the first mission, Create a Multiplayer Game with OpenAI, asking learners to use ChatGPT Work to design, build, test and publish a working multiplayer game.

No previous coding experience is required. Participants work with ChatGPT to make design decisions, define requirements and test what has been built, including identifying problems and asking the system to fix them.

The finished game is published at its own public URL and can be joined using a room code from a phone or laptop. Students can then add the completed project to their Handshake profile, giving employers access to an example of their practical AI work.

From prompting to a finished product

The mission is structured around using AI to complete a project rather than learning prompting as a standalone skill.

Students first give ChatGPT the requirements for the game, ask it to develop a plan and approve that plan before building begins.

They then test the result, explain what is not working and iterate with ChatGPT until the problems are addressed.

Access requires a ChatGPT account with Work mode.

The broader AI Skills Studio is intended to offer guided missions that result in something learners can share, positioning project evidence alongside more conventional qualifications and career information.

Handshake describes itself as a career network connecting 25 million knowledge workers, more than 1,600 educational institutions and one million employers. Its platform spans career discovery, recruitment and skills development, including internships, full-time roles, freelance work and other employment routes.

Game challenge adds a $1,000 prize

The multiplayer game mission is also linked to a Handshake competition, with submitted projects judged on execution, creativity, usefulness and value, and polish and thoughtfulness.

The official rules state that the top 20 entries progress to a second judging round, with the three highest-ranked entries each receiving $1,000.

Contest entrants must submit a project title, cover image, description and working project link through the Create a Multiplayer Game mission in AI Skills Studio.

The competition is limited to eligible legal residents aged 18 or the age of majority and above, with an active Handshake account. Eligible markets listed in the rules include the US, Canada, the UK, India and a number of European and Caribbean countries and territories.

The project challenge sits alongside a wider push from OpenAI into structured AI skills development. OpenAI Academy recently expanded its own role-based learning paths for college students, educators, developers, leaders and employees, while the Handshake partnership puts greater emphasis on completing work that can be displayed directly to employers.

Students participating in the AI Skills Studio mission can publish their multiplayer game and highlight the project on their Handshake profile after completing it.