aiEDU rallies 50+ partners to launch movement for AI education
Today, we announced a historic Call to Action (CTA) to bring AI education to every student in America. The CTA is a rallying cry for schools, nonprofits, universities, companies, and other stakeholders in the education ecosystem to band together behind a single goal: expand access to learning opportunities about artificial intelligence to ensure students are prepared to thrive as workers, consumers, creators, and citizens in the age of artificial intelligence.
“aiEDU has been advocating for foundational AI education since 2019, but the sudden explosion of generative AI tools onto the scene has led to a huge wave of interest from educators and education leaders over the past few months,” said Alex Kotran, co-founder and CEO of aiEDU. “Those who were around for the step change brought on by computers and the internet are experiencing a sense of déjà vu; it feels like we are once again on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation technological revolution, and it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this is a really, really big deal—especially for students.”
After Bloomberg broke the news, aiEDU hosted a launch event during SXSW in downtown Austin, TX and announced a goal of securing 500 school district commitments for AI education by 2024, and unveiled an initial group of more than 20 district pioneers that together serve more than 1.5 million students. aiEDU and its partners (find the full list here) are supporting schools that make commitments through a range of professional learning programs, curriculum implementation, stakeholder engagement, and regional/national convenings of education leaders partially or fully funded by an impressive cohort of foundations, companies, and philanthropies. So far, aiEDU has reached 100,000 students and has relationships with districts representing 1.5 million low-income and underserved kids across the country–and we anticipate that this CTA will only expand our reach and impact.
“We urgently need to help our schools and educators evolve learning strategies for the Age of Artificial Intelligence, and aiEDU has an ambitious plan to help them do just that,” said Tiffany Taylor, Chief People & Impact Officer at GSV Ventures, and aiEDU Board Member. “This might be the single most important challenge in the history of the U.S. education system, and no organization can solve the problem alone. The incredible coalition of partners that aiEDU has assembled validates its commitment to collaboration across the entire ecosystem.”
Partners in the launch are deeply committed to ensuring that the fruits of technological innovation are available to the communities and families that could benefit the most, especially as generative AI technologies–like ChatGPT and other recently-released generative AI tools–have captured the attention of educators and the world because we are all beginning to realize that the long foretold AI revolution is now here. The AI Education Project (aiEDU) is on a mission to empower students and teachers with the tools to respond to the AI revolution-- and we know we can't do it alone.
“The world is at the precipice of incredible technological change, and civil society must urgently step up to help reimagine a future that equitably benefits humanity,” said Vilas Dhar, President of The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. “Education is critical for building a digitally literate citizenry, and aiEDU’s leadership in building a shared movement is inspiring.”
Without multi-sector buy-in, our impact would be limited. Thanks to the support of corporate, educational, and nonprofit partners, we’ll be able to scale our programs to the next level.
“As the leading provider of AI to the federal government, Booz Allen has a front row seat to the unique challenges and opportunities that AI unlocks for our people, empowering them to truly change the world for the greater good," said John Larson, EVP for Artificial Intelligence at Booz Allen Hamilton. "Our firm and the Booz Allen Foundation are proud to have supported aiEDU since its inception to help the organization realize its vision of creating equitable pathways for AI education so that students, regardless of background, can benefit from the AI revolution and its impact in our society."
