AI in School

[jsb_tech]

This question is mostly directed towards Kristal or any of the Google staff that is on this forum...

I wanted to know if there was someone at Google, particularly in Google for Education, who either could direct me to someone local (in my case, Chicago) or could themselves be a resource to talk to students directly about AI, what it is, how it works, and what's its impact. We are trying to develop various STEM programs and I think a conversation about AI, particularly from a person working at Google, would be a phenomenal experience for the students.

I know this isn't the normal question here, but it is an education question in the Google space... Thanks for considering...

[Kim_Nilsson · Accepted solution]

That's both a great question, Jeremy, and an awesome use of this community!

@Kristal do you know someone offhand that fits Jeremy's requirements? Or should I raise the question in the Champion Innovators community (with  Natalie McHugh and Justin Holzwart)?

[Kristal · Accepted solution]

Let's do both, Kim.  I will respond here and then please raise the question in the Champion community

[Kim_Nilsson · Accepted solution]

That's both a great question, Jeremy, and an awesome use of this community!

@Kristal do you know someone offhand that fits Jeremy's requirements? Or should I raise the question in the Champion Innovators community (with  Natalie McHugh and Justin Holzwart)?

[Kristal · Accepted solution]

Let's do both, Kim.  I will respond here and then please raise the question in the Champion community

[Kim_Nilsson]

Done. Posted in the Champion Innovator community, both in Spaces and Discord.

[pertuz]

there's a discord?

if there ever was a reason to finally get "into" discord....

[Kim_Nilsson]

There is, for developers.

But the bar is low. 🙂

Just register as a Google Developer, and you can access.

https://developers.google.com/

[Kristal]

Thank you so much for this question!  We have many tools that contain AI within the tool itself so it's a seamless process and people don't even realize AI is being used (see screenshot).  We do have a buddy program where you can connect with a Google for Education employee and this may be a place to start. Here is the form for that process:  https://forms.gle/5dU3wtsrTWbn8Htr6.  I don't have anyone that I can refer you to in Chicago at this time, but Kim is going to post this in a different educator community to see if we can provide a local recommendation.  

[jsb_tech · Accepted solution]

Thanks @Kristal ! I filled out that form and I'm anxious to hear back from Google!

[pertuz]

AI is such a huge subject.

There are a load of AI applications that we've been using for years that weren't as popular and notorious as ChatGPT or Bard but have been assisting us for a long long time. 

Think of the suggested answers in gmail, the suggestions for new creations within google photos, the wondrous spam filtering in gmail. Loads of things that were never explicitly touted as AI but really have huge AI components. 

Consider running through this:

https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/course_templates/536

it'll give ou a better grasp on how Generative AI works (which is the type of AI that is now very notorious.

Chicago is quite far from me, but meet makes anything closer though I am clearly not an expert, just an enthusiast.

[jsb_tech]

Thanks @pertuz . I went ahead and took that Skill Boost course on Generative AI. It was a lot to take in, but I did score 100% on my exit quiz. I think having something like that even more simplified (if that's even possible) to a lay person's level with the time/patience to allow for examples and analogies to help participants, let alone students, really understand... that would be what I'm looking for.

I would prefer to do that in person b/c I think that'd be the most effect teaching method in this case, but I appreciate the offer of a virtual session...

[Kim_Nilsson]

@jsb_tech - you got some awesome response right here, and both Natalie and Justin will help.

Here's the screen shot link.
https://gdsc.community.dev/university-of-illinois-chicago/

[jsb_tech]

@Kim_Nilsson This is amazing! Thank you for sending up my question. I just put in a message to the UIC chapter of GDSC. University of Illinois - Chicago is local to us (we're in the Chicago suburbs). I'm hoping to hear back.

It looks like Justin and Natalie are going to do a little reaching out still, but Natalie mentioned the Cloud AI team who might have a person be willing to volunteer for a day... Does she indicate how to contact the Cloud AI team? The way she wrote it, she seems to imply that this contact is on me...

[Kim_Nilsson]

You can see if there's a way for you to do that. It's also still the weekend, so perhaps wait to see if Natalie does it.

[Kim_Nilsson]

As inspiration, Twitter is full of things like this.

https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2023/07/coding-with-ai-for-schools.html

https://twitter.com/ericcurts/status/1682791353971888128

[jsb_tech]

Thanks @Kim_Nilsson ! I think generative AI is a very interesting tool when it comes to code generation. As someone who was never great at coding, but had to to survive, having examples to work off of were crucial for my eventual end product let alone my understanding. I know others in education might look at it as "cheat", but I prefer to think of it as "homage" because you'd still have to understand it to tweak it for your specific needs.

That said, I still want to find a way to peek behind the "wall of code" to demystify the AI as a tool. Eric Curtis' examples remind me of the Developers Livestream that OpenAI ran showing off ChatGPT-4. Amazing stuff! And you could spend an entire class learning about how to use (i.e. consume) as a generative AI to produce things for you. But what I think scares people is that they don't simply don't understand what's behind it. Now, that doesn't mean they won't be MORE scared when they actually find out, but I think students may be able to picture themselves not just being "prompt engineers", but as coders on the backside or neural side of AI.

[MarkLoundy]

Jeremy,

Most AI's are proprietary locked boxes. For most people, what is inside them would be incomprehensible. Those who can comprehend it have likely already examined the open-source AIs.

[jsb_tech]

@MarkLoundy While technically, this may be true, I'm resistant to accept it as the end of this search. I've learned over the years to never underestimate the capacity of my students and I want to offer resources to match. Maybe I'm looking for a unicorn here (someone to discuss AI at a layperson level). Sometimes, a school district looking for a unicorn just has to grow one themselves.