Why have we decided to be part of this international adventure and to gain experience with the AI4YOUTH project for teachers and students? Going back to the past, we can fix the start of this adventure to 2021 when Intel launched the Intel® AI for Youth program in Italy.
The program aimed to educate young people aged 13 to 19 about the potentials and applications of artificial intelligence (AI). In collaboration with Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Italy (JA Italia), the primary goal was to bridge the knowledge gap on AI topics, making it inclusively accessible and preparing students for a future where AI would be an integral part of everyday life.
In this pilot phase, the project involved two Technical Institutes, including ours, and the ITTS Belluzzi-Da Vinci in Rimini. Amid the enthusiasm of Professor Giorgia Martina, always keen on new collaborations to add value to school activities, and the necessity, during a lockdown period, to make online moments more engaging for students, the project started with the participation of six students from the Computer Science and Telecommunications department (STEM Girls).
The results not only came promptly but were also extraordinary. Our team, presenting a chatbot project for local libraries, received recognition from the European Youth Showcase, was selected as the best project by Intel, received awards for the “Storie di Alternanza” project from UnionCamere, and had the opportunity to participate in a RAI3 broadcast “Rai Digital” thanks to the crucial contribution of Walter Riviera.
Today, the project has been re-activated with a Consortium composed of international partners, and as an Institute, we have decided to participate and challenge ourselves once more, aiming to reach higher targets: at least 10 teachers trained with the Train the Trainer program and at least 100 students trained, who will present products born from their ideas at the end of the year.
The educational program includes the acquisition of hard skills in artificial intelligence, as well as the development of entrepreneurial and soft skills, based on the educational paths of Intel’s AI for Youth and Junior Achievement’s Ideas in Action. We believe in the significant opportunity for students to realize a project and consequently a product with AI application, gaining awareness of the potential of their ideas.
Moreover, we are convinced that the ENTR4YOUTH project, through its program phases: inspiration, acquisition, experience, application, can be a good starting point to modify and update high school curricula in general, not just those in the computer science sector.
We are living in a historical moment where the language of schools and that of digital generations often diverge. New professions and skills emerge daily, and the rapid change affecting all professional fields, across various sectors from research to services, witnesses the birth of new profiles based mainly on the hybridization of sectors, disciplines, subjects, and skills that were once distinctly separate and all unified by the need to apply AI to enhance their work.
Therefore, AI 4 YOUTH, AI 4 All, AI 4 a better life in the world.
