18 Buffalo Business |
AI AND BUSINESS ANALYTICS SOCIAL IMPACT OF MANAGEMENT BUSINESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE INNOVATION, ENTREPREURSHP AND LEADERSHIP
generators and AI copilots, but most had never spoken
with a professor, never stepped into a university research
lab and never heard that AI could be used to help start a
company, solve a civic problem or create a career.
These needs and concerns were the driving force
behind the new AI Experience at UB, a free, two-day
program that introduces middle- and high-school students
to AI through interactive projects, real-world experiments
and ethical discussions.
Over their break last summer, 23 tech-savvy teens
from 14 local schools came to campus and learned about
the foundations of AI and machine learning, received
hands-on training with a range of AI tools, used AI
to develop and pitch innovative business ideas, built
video games and learned about various aspects of ethics
and trust.
Western New York has a math problem.
On one side of the equation is a region fighting popu-
lation loss, brain drain and uneven economic mobility. On
the other is artificial intelligence: a technology reshaping
every industry, creating new careers faster than most
families, teachers or employers can keep up.
Between them is an access gap. And much like federal
programs that were established to develop cybersecurity
experts 20 years ago, today's national trends point to a
need for experts in AI.
For parents, headlines make AI sound either like cheat-
ing soware or job-stealing automation. What's missing
in that story is agency: the idea that you can learn how it
works, question it, shape it and insist it be used responsibly.
UB faculty were already seeing up close how local
teens were experimenting with tools like ChatGPT, image
Teens from local schools learned about the foundations of AI and machine learning at the inaugural AI Experience at UB program� Photos: Douglas Levere
EXPLORING THE FUTURE
OF ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE
By Kevin Manne
TEENS TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO THE
TECHNOLOGY OF TOMORROW
