- The Mark Cuban Foundation has partnered with Microsoft and Walmart to set up an AI Bootcamp program for high schoolers in Dallas
This past April, The Mark Cuban Foundation has partnered with Microsoft and Walmart to set up an “AI Bootcamp” program for high schoolers in Dallas. This four-session course taught fundamental AI concepts to public school students and it is the first in a series of planned initiatives that Cuban is hoping will give students early exposure to critical skills.
“AI is no longer something in the future. It’s changing every industry today. I wanted to start by educating the kids who will be making the decisions about how AI will impact society,” said Cuban in a statement. “Not everyone needs to be an AI expert, but it’s important for everyone to understand the basics to be an informed citizen.”
The free 18-hour extracurricular program provided 20 students from six Dallas ISD high schools with a unique hands-on opportunity to learn about the technology Cuban believes will have a major impact on society. The Foundation also prioritized applications from low-income schools in Dallas ISD for providing opportunities to students who may not otherwise get a chance to learn about these topics. It’s also worth mentioning that half of the participants were young women.
To select the curriculum’s topics, The Mark Cuban Foundation worked closely with Microsoft. And students used Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Computing Platform and its built-in Cognitive Services for building their own working AI applications.
Britt Aspinall Madlem — a data and AI technical specialist at Microsoft’s office in Dallas — had volunteered time to lead tutorials on the technology conducted on Microsoft Surface devices from the local Microsoft Store.
“Microsoft is committed to empowering the next generation of creators to pursue their dreams through access to technology, resources and learning opportunities,” said Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Cloud + AI Charlotte Yarkoni. “We’re excited to help students learn more about the ethical and technical applications of AI, and provide them with the tools to explore their passions and build skills that could lead to a future career in technology.”
The courses had familiarized students with high-level AI concepts such as Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision. And the bootcamp also emphasized both the advantages and shortcomings of the technology with students engaging in ethical discussions about ways that AI could help or unintentionally hurt people in the future. Plus students also gained a hands-on experience building with the same tools used by experts in the field.
The course sessions were led by Sheetal Kadam — a first-year Computer Science Master’s Student at the University of Texas at Dallas who is focusing her studies on data science and machine learning. Kadam had worked with Cuban’s team for developing a curriculum that covered a wide-range of complex topics while keeping the students engaged with examples ranging from Netflix to ‘fidget spinners’ to Avengers: Endgame.
And Neelabh Pant, Ph.D. — a data scientist at Walmart — developed the course’s session in tandem with the new Walmart Tech Office in Plano where technologists focus on AI, machine learning, data science, and IoT. Pant had visited the camp to talk about his own AI education and career. And then he showed students how to use Walmart’s own data to train an intelligent system for predicting weekly sales at any Walmart store in the country with just a few data points.
“Walmart is using technology, data, and design to power the future of retail,” added Pant. “There is so much potential for using emerging technologies and we are excited for the opportunity to inspire the next generation of technologists.”
Vladimir Eidelman — the VP of Research at FiscalNote — had explained how he uses AI in his work for understanding how bills will work through local, state, and national legislature. And Drive.ai (recently acquired by Apple) co-founder Brody Huval demonstrated how self-driving cars would not be possible without AI.
The feedback from the students about the program have been positive. One student said that “the guest speakers were the best part of the bootcamp.” And another student said that the speakers are “really experienced in the AI field and gave great knowledge that only lucky people such as us could get.”
The feedback from the students about the program have been positive. One student said that “the guest speakers were the best part of the bootcamp.” And another student said that the speakers are “really experienced in the AI field and gave great knowledge that only lucky people such as us could get.”
Along with course leaders and guest speakers, students also worked with mentors who have backgrounds in computer science and programming including five from the Dallas-based software consulting company Headstorm.
“You’re probably some of the earliest high school kids that ever got exposed to learning this stuff…That’s why I get so excited about this. You guys will get to do things that no one your age has come up with. That’s exciting,” noted Cuban.
During the program’s four sessions, students had gained a comprehensive understanding of the basic concepts underlying artificial intelligence. And by the end of the course, students average self-reported confidence in understanding of AI from 3.6 to 8.4 on a 10-point scale.
Plus students also left with tangible rewards including a Certificate of Completion from Microsoft digitally signed by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella — which can be added to their resumes and college applications along with a $100 credit for Microsoft Azure to continue learning and building applications along with a photo of Mark Cuban.
The Mark Cuban Foundation and Microsoft are going to continue working together to distribute the AI Bootcamp curriculum to 100 Microsoft STEM Volunteers across the country. Plus Cuban is hoping to partner with schools and other educational organizations to continue hosting AI programs to educate the technology leaders of the future. The Foundation is planning to host the AI Bootcamp again this month and interested Dallas ISD students can pre-register at this website. Or you can text AICamp to 555888 for more information or to register.
