How we're improving AI literacy in young people
With the rapid advances in AI and machine learning, it’s more important than ever that young people understand the ways it impacts their lives, the role it will play in their future, and the opportunities it affords.
That’s why today, we are delighted to announce that Google.org is providing $10M in funding to the Raspberry Pi Foundation to further expand access to Experience AI, an educational program co-created with Google DeepMind. This is part of our broader commitment to support organizations helping young people build AI literacy, announced earlier this year.
With the support of local partners with expertise on the ground, Experience AI provides teachers with the training and resources needed to both educate and inspire young people aged 11-14 about AI.
Since its launch in April 2023, Experience AI has been accessed by educators across 130 countries. The curriculum, created by Raspberry Pi Foundation in collaboration with Google DeepMind, focuses on a structured learning journey, ethical considerations, real-world examples and role models, and culturally relevant content to engage diverse learners in understanding AI and how to use it responsibly. Through this collaboration, Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind continued to develop further resources, including three new lessons centered around AI safety.
Reaching more classrooms around the world
The Raspberry Pi Foundation is establishing new partnerships to roll out the program in 17 countries and 13 new languages across Europe, Middle East and Africa, reaching more than 2 million young people.
They will work with this network of local partner organizations whose priority is training teachers and educators who will teach the curriculum in schools and reach the most underserved teens.
These partner organizations will also help create bespoke localized versions of the program’s resources. Localization is key to making the program culturally relevant, accessible, and engaging for students, as is the training support for teachers and engaging support networks such as parents.
Teachers and students at the Experience AI launch event in Malaysia.
We will teach more young people how to stay safe with AI
Experience AI would be nothing without the amazing teachers and educators who dedicate their lives to empowering and inspiring young people, every day. They are responsible for delivering the Experience AI program and making it relevant and meaningful to the students they work with.
The lessons allowed them to understand the benefits and the risks of AI, and how it works 'under the hood’. I really enjoyed teaching this topic.
Building on this success, Raspberry Pi Foundation is also developing three new cutting-edge lessons on AI safety, designed to give learners the skills needed to mitigate the potential risks and challenges associated with the technology, whilst turning them into empowered users of AI. The new materials cover:
- AI and Your Data: Helping young people reflect on the data they are already providing to AI applications in their lives and how the prevalence of AI tools might change the way they protect their data.
- Media Literacy in the Age of AI: Highlighting the ways AI tools can be used to perpetuate misinformation and how AI applications can help combat misleading claims.
- Using Generative AI Responsibly: Empowering young people to reflect on their responsibilities when using Generative AI and their expectations of developers who release AI tools.
Ben Garside, one of the lead educators working on Experience AI, takes a group of students through one of the lessons.
A bright future for the next generation of AI innovators
Thanks to our collaboration with Raspberry Pi Foundation, their local partners who share our vision, and the incredible teachers and educators who bring the program to life, we couldn’t be more excited about the future of Experience AI. Together we hope to empower young people and inspire the next generation of AI innovators to use the technology to make a positive impact in society.
For more information on Experience AI and to download the lesson resources, visit the Experience AI website.
