Artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential is real, and children should start learning about it early. Many took their first steps in the field using Siri, Alexa, and other personal assistants incorporating elements of AI. The application of AI will cross disciplines, including business, education, journalism, law enforcement, and medicine. Whether students eventually work in those fields, or they become involved directly in designing AI solutions, they should become AI-literate at an early age. Expanding STEM education programs to include AI and finding ways to fuel young people’s interest in it is crucial, considering its expected effects on the workforce, global competition, and other socio-economic factors. Shirley Malcom, head of education and human resources programs of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said last year in a CXOTalk on AI’s impact on jobs training: “I worry about the preparation of the next generation to be able to move into the jobs of the future. I worry…whether we're giving them the education that they need.” China’s government has mandated that all K-12 students be taught about AI, and now the U.S. needs to do the same, Prof. David Touretzky, an AI researcher at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), notes in an email. “A lot of AI concepts, such as knowledge representation or heuristic search, are accessible even to young students, if presented in the right way.” To help bolster AI education, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) …

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• Artificial Intelligence

• ECN

• 3/1/2019

• Article