Local efforts are helping students and teachers integrate AI into education

Photo above by Steve Johnson via Unsplash.

President Trump’s executive order on education this week seeks to advance AI education, starting with the youngest students. The goal is to maintain America’s dominance in AI, and Pittsburgh schools are already at the forefront.

The Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) started work on artificial intelligence in education in 2017. They helped create national tools for districts to thoughtfully implement AI for teachers and students. The AIU also provides training for administrators and teachers on how to help kids learn about artificial intelligence and use it to enhance their education.

“If we build this foundation for students, beginning as early as kindergarten, we’ll see that students can move from being passive users of AI to active creators of the AI technology of the future” says Brian Stamford, a program director at the AIU.

“So if we want to develop students that can work fluently with AI as a co-pilot in the workplace, we have to invest in high quality, sustained professional development for all teachers,” Stamford says. “Because this is new for everyone, and that’s really the foundation of any successful integration of AI in the K-12.”

AI is also being used to help teachers design lesson plans and personalize instruction to allow them more time to connect with students.

The recent executive order also encourages public-private partnerships. In our region, the AIU is already working with Carnegie Mellon University and other local organizations to help integrate AI in education for kids in kindergarten through high school.