Self driving cars. Voice-based virtual assistance. Face recognition technology.
These are just some examples of how advances in artificial intelligence are permeating our daily lives. With the potential for this technology to transform the future, Putney has launched an intensive summer workshop designed to inspire students to understand and apply AI to improve the world.
The Putney School Summer Programs will host a 1-week session in partnership with INSPIRIT AI, where instructors from Stanford, MIT, and other Ivy League schools will teach students the foundations of machine learning, and explore different applications of machine learning models.
Running from July 27 — August 1, the workshop is for middle and high school students (rising 8th through 12th graders), and is open to Putney School students, as well as students from other schools.
The AI workshop builds upon Putney’s well-established Summer Arts programs for teens and adults, applying the innovative values the school is known for to an emerging industry across science and technology, said Dan Folgar, director of The Putney School Summer Programs:
We had tried a STEM program in the past that ran during the arts program. It was a different kind of creative energy that came from that program. With this AI workshop, we are bringing something similar back to the summer, and giving it its own dedicated week.
Immersing students in cutting-edge trends speaks to Putney’s commitment to progressive education, where students ‘learn by doing’ through a hands-on approach. During the workshop, students will not only gain an understanding of artificial intelligence applications, foundational concepts and programming tools, but they’ll complete a group project that applies AI to a particular discipline such as music, healthcare, astrophysics, or finance.
While the AI workshop may be new, Putney’s tendency to find ways for students to learn from ground-breaking experiences is not. In another project, Lumi at Putney, Putney students were selected to test an AI-powered chatbot being developed by Boston College researchers. The app is described as a reflective intelligence co-pilot designed to help users clarify an intentional path forward.
Students have been putting it to good use during Project Weeks to flesh out their goals, identify the steps to take to be successful, and to reflect on what went well and what they could have done better.
The AI summer workshop is another way for Putney to empower students by providing them with the skills they’ll need not just in high school, but in life, says Folgar.
“Students,” he said, “are getting the opportunity to explore this technology, to learn how it works, and to better prepare themselves for the future.”