AI and Camp Weekly Summary : November 9, 2025

Covering developments from November 2 → November 8

As your camp gears up for another season of planning, staffing, and creating those magical moments that help kids grow into confident problem-solvers, the AI landscape keeps shifting in ways that actually matter for your daily operations. This week brought some significant changes that could impact how you communicate with parents, train your staff, and manage the countless details that make camp run smoothly.

Let's break down what happened, why it matters for your camp, and what you can actually do about it this week.

What Happened This Week

Adobe Goes All-In on Creative AI

Adobe dropped some major updates at their MAX 2025 event that caught our attention. They've expanded their Firefly AI tools to support custom models that you can train with just 6-12 images, added generative soundtracks and speech features, and launched a browser-based multi-track video editor that weaves together images, audio, and video seamlessly.

Think about this for a second: you could train an AI model using just a handful of photos from your camp and then generate consistent visual content that actually looks like your place. That's pretty wild, right?

Google Clarifies How "AI Mode" Search Actually Works

Google explained how their new "AI Mode" in Search works behind the scenes, and it's more sophisticated than most of us realized. It breaks down user queries into dozens of sub-queries, pulls from a database of 250 million business locations and 50 billion products, then synthesizes everything into conversational responses.

Why does this matter? Because parents and staff are getting used to this level of smart, conversational search everywhere else. Your camp's website and parent portal might start feeling clunky by comparison.

California Gets Serious About AI Safety for Kids

California signed new legislation specifically focused on AI tools that interact with minors. The law requires transparency, age-appropriate controls, and risk reporting for AI systems used by children.

If you're thinking "this doesn't affect me," think again. Any camp using chatbots, interactive learning tools, or AI-powered feedback systems with kids needs to pay attention to this trend.

Academic Research Points to the Future of Training

Researchers published new work on "AI-Agent School" systems that can simulate classroom-like interactions across multiple sessions and roles. While this is still in the research phase, it signals where staff training might be headed: dynamic, AI-driven scenarios instead of static slide presentations.

Why This Matters for Camp Operations

Your Creative Game Just Got Stronger

Those Adobe updates mean you can now produce high-quality promotional videos, social media content, and parent communication materials in-house, faster and cheaper than ever before. No more waiting weeks for your videographer to get back to you with edits.

Remember, camp is all about fostering creativity and problem-solving skills. When your staff can quickly create engaging content that tells your camp's story authentically, you're modeling the same innovative thinking you want to develop in your campers.

Parent Expectations Are Rising Fast

Google's conversational search improvements mean parents are getting used to asking complex questions and getting immediate, helpful answers. When they visit your website and can't easily find out "What happens if it rains during the talent show?" or "Can my daughter switch from tennis to archery mid-session?" it creates friction.

Safety and Compliance Can't Be Afterthoughts

California's new law is just the beginning. Any AI tool that touches camper data or interacts with kids needs proper oversight, logging, and transparency. This isn't just about legal compliance: it's about maintaining the trust parents place in you every summer.

Training Is About to Get More Interactive

The research on simulation-based learning suggests that your staff training could soon involve AI-powered role-playing scenarios. Imagine new counselors practicing difficult conversations with "virtual campers" before they're in the cabin dealing with homesickness at 2 AM.

Concrete Ways This Affects Your Camp

For Leadership and Strategy

You could use Adobe's new tools to create a compelling "Day at Camp" video using just staff snapshots, AI-generated voice-over, and soundtrack. It might take you an afternoon instead of weeks of back-and-forth with vendors.

Consider building a conversational search feature for your parent portal where parents can ask natural questions like "Will my child be in the same cabin as their friend?" and get helpful, contextual answers.

For Daily Operations

Your media team could produce weekly staff highlight reels automatically, cutting external vendor costs significantly. Think about the budget reallocation possibilities there.

If you're planning to use any youth-facing chatbots or interactive tools, now's the time to run them through a compliance check against emerging safety standards.

For Communications

Use creative AI to assemble weekly "Moments from Camp" videos that you can share with parents every Friday. Higher engagement, more authentic storytelling, and parents who feel genuinely connected to their child's experience.

Upgrade your FAQ page from static answers to a smart system where parents can ask open-ended questions and get coherent, helpful responses based on your actual policies and procedures.

For Staff Training and Development

Train your creative team to use these new AI tools effectively. The time savings could be substantial, and you'll be teaching skills that translate beyond camp.

Start exploring interactive training modules where AI acts as different types of campers, allowing your staff to practice responses in a safe environment before the real thing.

Action Steps for This Week

Test Some Creative AI Tools

Pick one media project: maybe this week's parent update or a staff training video: and try creating it using Adobe's new generative features. Track the time and cost savings compared to your usual process.

Audit Your Youth-Facing Technology

If you use any apps, chatbots, or interactive tools with campers, create a simple compliance checklist covering age-appropriateness, data logging, and transparency. Better to get ahead of this now.

Evaluate Your Parent Experience

Open your website and try searching for answers to common parent questions. Note where the experience breaks down and where a conversational search tool might help.

Upskill Your Team

Host a brief session where your communications staff explores these new AI creative tools. Have them brainstorm one concrete use case for next season.

Update Your Planning

Add budget line items for "AI-Enhanced Creative Tools" and "Youth-AI Compliance" in your 2026 planning. Even small amounts now give you flexibility later.

The Bigger Picture

Here's what's really happening: we're seeing an expectation shift across the board. Parents, staff, and even campers are getting used to smart, responsive, multimedia experiences in every other part of their lives. The tools to deliver these experiences are becoming more accessible, while the rules around using them safely with kids are getting clearer.

For camps, this creates both opportunity and responsibility. The opportunity is to communicate more effectively, operate more efficiently, and create richer experiences. The responsibility is to do it thoughtfully, with proper oversight, and always in service of your core mission.

Camp remains one of the best places for kids to develop the problem-solving skills they'll need to thrive in an AI-enhanced world. When they're away from devices, building fires, figuring out how to resolve cabin conflicts, and learning to navigate social dynamics, they're developing the kind of creative, independent thinking that no AI can replicate.

Your job is to stay current with these tools so you can use them effectively behind the scenes, while preserving the essential human experiences that make camp transformative. It's about using technology to enhance your impact, not replace the magic.

The camps that get this balance right: leveraging AI for operations while maintaining the authentic, relationship-based experiences that help kids grow: will have a significant advantage in the years ahead.

Want more insights on youth leadership and camp innovation? Follow along at ilove.camp and connect with me on Instagram (@MattLovesCamp) and LinkedIn for daily updates from the camp world.