The AI ​​Day curriculum responds to the moment

MIT Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE) recently celebrated its second annual Artificial Intelligence Day with two flagship local events. The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate in Boston hosted an event on human rights and data policy that was streamed around the world. Dearborn STEM Academy in Roxbury, Massachusetts, hosted workshops for students in partnership with Amazon Future Engineer. With over 8,000 registrations in all 50 U.S. states and 108 countries in 2023, AI Day participation has more than doubled since its inaugural year.

Day of AI is a free curriculum of lessons and hands-on activities designed to teach children of all ages and backgrounds the basics and responsible exploit of artificial intelligence, developed by MIT RAISE researchers. This year, teachers could access the resources at any time and at intervals of their choosing. The curriculum included five modern modules on current topics such as ChatGPT in School, Learning Machines, Artificial Intelligence and Social Media, Data Science and Me, and more. Thanks to cooperation with the International Society for Technology in Education, modules for primary school students were also introduced. Teachers around the world shared photos, videos and stories engage their students by expressing excitement and even relief about the lessons available.

Professor Cynthia Breazeal, director of RAISE, dean of digital learning at MIT and head of the Personal Robots research group at the MIT Media Lab, said: “This has been a year of extraordinary advances in artificial intelligence, and with it, necessary conversations and concerns about who and what this technology is used for. Through our AI Day events, we want to celebrate the teachers and students who are putting in the work to ensure that AI is for everyone.”

Reflecting community values ​​and protecting digital citizens

MIT President Sally Kornbluth welcomed students from Warren Prescott Middle School and Recent Mission High School during the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate’s AI Day program. Kornbluth reflected on the thrilling potential of artificial intelligence, as well as the ethical considerations that society must be responsible for.

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to do lots of fantastic things, including driving cars, helping us fight the climate crisis, improving healthcare and designing applications we can’t even imagine yet. However, we must ensure that this does not harm individuals, communities, us – society as a whole,” she said.

This topic was echoed by all the event’s speakers, whose work spanned the education, government and business sectors. Yo Deshpande, a public realm technologist, and Michael Lawrence Evans, program director of Recent Urban Mechanics at the Boston Mayor’s Office, shared how Boston is thinking about using artificial intelligence to improve city life in a way that is “equitable, accessible and delightful.” Deshpande said: “We have an opportunity to explore not only how AI works, but also how using AI can align with our values, how we want to be in the world and how we want to be in our community.”

Adam L’Italien, Chief Innovation Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance (one of the founders of Day of AI), compared our current moment with AI technologies to the dawn of personal computers and internet connections. “Exposure to new technologies can accelerate progress in the world and in your lives,” L’Italien said, while acknowledging that the process of developing artificial intelligence must be inclusive and mitigate bias.

Human Politics for Artificial Intelligence

So how does society respond to human rights concerns about artificial intelligence? Marc Aidinoff ’21, former chief of staff of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, led a discussion on how government policy can influence parameters of technology development and exploit, such as Draft AI Bill of Rights. Aidinoff said: “The work of building the world you want to see is much more difficult than building a technical AI system… How do you collaborate with other people and create a collective vision of what we want to do?” Warren Prescott Middle School students described how artificial intelligence can be used to solve problems that humans cannot. However, they also shared concerns that AI could impact data privacy, learning deficits, social media addiction, job relocation and propaganda.

In a mock U.S. Senate trial designed by Daniella DiPaola, a doctoral student at the MIT Media Lab, middle school students tested what rights artificial intelligence might violate in schools, hospitals, law enforcement agencies and corporations. Meanwhile, Recent Mission High School students discussed the ideas behind the bill S.2314, the Social Media Addiction Reduction Technology (SMART) Act, in an effort designed by Raechel Walker, a graduate research assistant at the Personal Robots Group, and Matt Taylor, a research assistant at the Media Lab. They discussed what level of control could or should be introduced at the parental, educational and governmental levels to reduce the risk of Internet addiction.

“Alexa, how to program artificial intelligence?”

At Dearborn STEM Academy, Amazon Future Engineer helped students work on the “Intro to Voice AI” curriculum module in real time. Students used MIT App Inventor to code basic commands for Alexa. In an interview with WCVB, Principal Darlene Marcano said, “It is important that we expose our students to as many different experiences as possible. Students participating in the program are well on their way to becoming future computer scientists and engineers.”

Breazeal told Dearborn students: “We want you to have an informed voice in how you want artificial intelligence to be used in society. We want you to feel empowered to shape the world. With AI, you can do things that will facilitate create a better world and a better community.

Rohit Prasad ’08, senior vice president and chief scientist for Alexa at Amazon, and Victor Reinoso ’97, global director of learning initiatives at Amazon, also joined the event. “Together, Amazon and MIT are committed to helping students discover a world of possibilities through STEM and artificial intelligence education,” Reinoso said. “There is currently a lot of interest in the technology revolution with generative artificial intelligence and large language models, so we are excited to help students explore future careers and choose the paths available to them.” To highlight its continued investment in the local community and school curriculum, Amazon provided the Boston Public School System with a $25,000 Innovation and Early College Pathways Program Grant.

AI Day Down Under

Not only has the AI ​​Day program been widely adopted around the world, but Australian teachers have also been inspired to adapt their own curriculum to suit their region. estimated 161,000 AI specialists will be needed According to Australia’s estimates, by 2030 National Center for Artificial Intelligence at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), an Australian government agency and AI Day Australia project partner. CSIRO has worked with the University of Recent South Wales to develop additional educational resources on the ethics of artificial intelligence and machine learning. This year, AI Australia Day reached 85,000 students in over 400 secondary schools, sparking curiosity among the next generation of AI experts.

Interest in artificial intelligence is growing as this technology develops. Artificial Intelligence Day offers K-12 students a unique opportunity to shape the digital future of our world and their own.

“I hope that some of you will decide to participate in this larger effort to help us find the best possible answers to the questions that artificial intelligence poses,” Kornbluth told students at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. “We count on you, the next generation, to learn how AI works and help make sure it is accessible to all.”