AI4OPT’s K-12 initiatives are driven by the belief that students should be introduced to artificial intelligence (AI) early, helping bridge the opportunity gap in underserved communities. These programs aim to give students foundational exposure to AI and machine learning, inspiring them to pursue careers in these fields. Courses offered are grounded in the use of deep learning for computer vision. 

AI High School Classes

We offer AI courses for grades 10 and 11, introducing students to machine learning and culminating in projects that apply deep learning for computer vision. These courses equip students with hands-on skills in cutting-edge technology and foster an interest in AI.

Seth Bonder Summer Camps

The Seth Bonder Summer Camps have introduced +1,500 students to AI and computational thinking. These camps feature three levels of instruction:

• Level 1: Computational thinking with Snap!
• Level 2: Data science with Python
• Level 3: Deep learning with Keras

Held annually at Georgia Tech and through Kids Teach Tech in the Bay Area, these camps provide valuable experiences to students and inspire them to pursue further studies in STEM.

Pathways to AI Careers

AI4OPT aims to build pathways that prepare students for successful careers in AI by exposing them to real-world applications and the knowledge necessary to excel in this rapidly evolving field. Our high school education programs are organized around three key pillars:

1. Partnerships with High Schools
   AI4OPT has partnered with high schools in Georgia and California to offer long-term, dedicated training camps focused on data science, computational sciences, and AI.
2. Collaboration with Drew Charter High School
   In collaboration with Drew Charter High School, we offer annual engineering practice courses that teach machine learning, providing students with hands-on experience in cutting-edge technology.
3. Teacher Training Camps
   We are developing specialized camps for high-school STEM teachers to help them teach AI and computational thinking. These teacher versions of the camps will enable educators to deliver AI courses in their own schools, either as regular or flipped classrooms.
4. Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
   AI4OPT is creating MOOCs based on the content of our summer camps, making it accessible to a wide range of students and institutions. These online courses can be used in schools nationwide, providing flexibility for students and teachers alike.

AI4OPT’s collaboration with Kids Teach Tech (KTT) brings the Seth Bonder camp to Hispanic-serving high schools in California. In 2021, the Institute team has delivered five online camps for about 150 students. Two were in collaboration with historically black high schools and the California camp included 82% of underrepresented students (Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Low-Income and/or Women).  KTT piloted the Seth Bonder data science camp for the first time, and it became one of their most popular summer camps. In a couple of weeks, it attracted more than 60 students mostly from under-served populations. In this partnership, KTT takes the role of complementing in-person data science camp by their online nature of teaching.

About Kids Teach Tech

Kids Teach Tech empowers youth to seize the technology opportunities of their future. We enable students to become teachers who create and teach classes for their community. We teach free classes to youth in libraries, schools, non-profit groups, and live-online across California, the United States, and now Internationally.

Drew Charter High School

AI4OPT has been collaborating with Drew Charter High School in Atlanta, Georgia, since Fall 2021, to offer engineering practice courses focused on machine learning. The courses are designed to provide students with hands-on experience in developing facial recognition systems, using coding applications, such as Python, and exploring AI and ML.