Artificial intelligence will be key to helping humanity travel to new frontiers and solve problems that today seem insurmountable. It enhances human expertise, makes predictions more accurate, automates decisions and processes, frees humans to focus on higher value work, and improves our overall efficiency. But public trust in the technology is at a low point, and there is good reason for that. Over the past several years, we’ve seen multiple examples of AI that makes unfair decisions, or that doesn’t give any explanation for its decisions, or that can be hacked by outside forces, or that misuses or does not protect users private data. Even those organizations that have the very best of intentions can end up causing inadvertent individual or societal harm.

The challenge of ensuring that AI is trustworthy is a socio-technological challenge that necessitates a holistic approach. This holistic approach must include a strong focus on PEOPLE and CULTURE that begins with an earnest investment in education. We are not suggesting education for only those higher ed students that self-categorize as future data scientists, machine learning scientists and coders, but education for ALL, starting in K-12.

The Case for K-5

When we talk about K-12 AI education, we must face an important reality. If we wait until middle or high school, we will reach only a tiny slice of our children.  We know this from experience in the related broader realm of computer science education.  By upper grades, AI and CS are learned by those students choosing elective CS courses, which reach precious few, especially in underserved communities. Indeed, after billions of dollars in investment in CS education, with a primary focus on upper grades, 0.7% of our high school students take the AP computer science exams – a fraction of those who take history or English, despite hundreds of thousands of high-paying CS jobs. 

If AI understanding is vital to solving our problems and understanding our world, we must make AI a systemic part of K-5 elementary education. Indeed, without broad K-5 AI and CS education there is little chance of achieving widespread understanding of AI in our future society. 

An Interdisciplinary Mindset

It’s critical to afford the opportunity for students to develop an interdisciplinary mindset for preparing next-generation innovators to accomplish increasingly complex and interdisciplinary STEM tasks. In particular, in the fast-growing AI field, fostering an interdisciplinary view is important for nurturing innovators who could unleash the full power of AI technology to drive transformative changes in various domains such as education, biology, agriculture, and the food system. This is well-aligned with NSF’s AI institute goals in promoting AI-driven innovation in application areas. Fostering an interdisciplinary mindset among youth is the key to accelerating innovations that require drawing knowledge from multiple disciplines, especially AI-driven innovations.

Making it Resonate 

The key to finding ways to inspire younger generations is to lead with the WHY not the WHAT. WHY should they learn this? Consider how to teach ways in which AI may help them with the kinds of things that they are ultimately interested in. Consider these ideas from Institute for the Future’s Global Youth Skills project:

• Creating AI that can help inform people of their own patterns

• Create AI-assisted strategies for winning contests.

• Create AI-informed alternate business models.

• Model building for two-state simulation.

• Creating a new sound aesthetic in augmented reality.

• Creating a smart digital storefront for eco-maker products.

• Collecting and analyzing wearable data.

• Curating quantitative and qualitative neuro-experiences.

• Using VR to explore the past and build the future.

• Developing blockchain-based citizen services.

In parallel with introducing the IDEA to them that no matter WHAT they want to be when they grow up, technologies like AI can unlock huge opportunities… schools can introduce the Ethics curriculum so that all students can understand why this is a relevant space for them to pay full attention to. Classes that cater to younger students can introduce topics like Design Thinking so that without having to write any code, students can begin working through what are potential unintended negative effects of various AI use cases and have the students brainstorm on how to mitigate to protect against harm.

IBM’s Everyday Ethics document details how a team with very diverse skillsets might consider what potential harms might look like from an innocuous use of AI (hotel’s in-room personal assistant), and furthermore, how to mitigate potential harm given the values of the organization, and the rights of the end-users. This exercise could absolutely be used with middle school and high school students with their own use cases in mind.

Enabling Teachers

We need more investments in training our teachers about this fast moving space. IBM has invested in a non-profit called Mindspark to provide free introductory material to K-12 teachers as well as freely available courses online for students. Localized programs like the Kenan Fellows also emphasize the importance of having technologists mentor teachers as they become more knowledgeable about these technologies and curate curriculum.

In Conclusion

In closing, we must learn how to market this kind of curriculum to students in a way that students who have varying interests can feel welcome. As a society, we cannot afford to have only those students that self categorize as data scientists in higher ed institutions to glean this kind of knowledge. As a citizen of this new world, it is critical that all understand enough about this subject to demand transparency, explainability and accountability in AI models that are already making decisions that directly affect our lives. We must give students the tools and knowledge that they will need in order to secure a brighter future.

Phaedra Boinodiris

A fellow with the London-based Royal Society of Arts, Boinodiris has focused on inclusion in technology since 1999. She is currently the business transformation leader for IBM’s Responsible AI consulting group and serves on the leadership team of IBM’s Academy of Technology. Boinodiris, co-founder of WomenGamers.com, is pursuing her Ph.D. in AI and Ethics at University College Dublin’s Smart Lab. In 2019, she won the United Nations Woman of Influence in STEM and Inclusivity Award and was recognized by Women in Games International as one of the Top 100 Women in the Games Industry.

John Pearce

John is Founder and Executive Director of CS for Elementary, Family Code Night and MV GATE, Inc. In 2021, John and his team convened CSK5, the first national summit for K-5 computer science education, uniting 40 states and 5 top national organizations under the computer science education theme “Every School Can.” John was a featured presenter at the White House Computer Science for All Summit in September 2016, and spoke at the 2017, 2019, and 2021 CSforAll Summits. John and his team created the Family Code Night event, helped thousands of schools host the event on their own, then, when Covid struck, pivoted to National Family Code Night livestreams for tens of thousands of families and hundreds of schools nationwide. John has appeared on CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox, and has spoken at dozens of national conferences on CS education, public relations and marketing.