AI courses for students are very popular at Hessian schools
The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence, hessian.AI, and the organization “KI macht Schule” conducted a series of courses on artificial intelligence at Leibnizschule Offenbach from July 18 to 20, 2022. The series of events was very well received by teachers and students.
As part of a project week at Leibnizschule Offenbach, hessian.AI and KI macht Schule held three courses in artificial intelligence and machine learning. The courses focused on how Artificial Intelligence can be applied in the subject areas of medicine, ethics and art.
The courses focused on the basic functioning of Artificial Intelligence, its impact on different fields of application, as well as ethical and social components of AI.
In cooperation with the Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence, we were able to present our three state-of-the-art course modules AI & Medicine, AI & Art, and AI & Mobility to the students of Leibnizschule Offenbach. By collaborating with we come a big step closer to the goal of KI macht Schule to provide all students with a sound basic education in the field of AI and its diverse application areas.
Marius Süßmilch, Head of the Heilbronn office of KI macht Schule
Ten participants from each grade 10 were able to train a neural network themselves by making training data available that was classified by the AI and thus made initial contact with the concept of machine learning. The interested students took pictures of themselves with and without masks, for example. The application classified the data and could then judge whether a person was wearing a medical mask correctly or not. In addition, the students playfully devised their own conditions with which they trained the neural network.
AI systems like the ones the participants were able to test are already part of our everyday lives and are already an integral part of many industrial processes. To ensure that even schoolchildren* understand the impact of this technology, but can also participate in shaping it, hessian.AI has set itself the goal of firmly integrating the acquisition of basic skills in the field of artificial intelligence into the curriculum of Hessian schools.
It is great that through the cooperation with KI macht Schule we have the chance to bring the topic of artificial intelligence to Hessian schools with experts. In this way, hessian.AI wants to make a contribution to spreading the understanding of this technology and to start where it will reach the target groups of the future: in the field of education.
Elena Stahl, Press & Media Relations Officer, hessian.AI
In order to create acceptance and understanding for new technologies and also their already current use, an examination of these areas must be fundamentally guaranteed. This should include technical-scientific as well as ethical and social aspects in order to clarify facts, chances and also existing deficits of artificial intelligence. Only through “participation” in the topic can the willingness to engage with AI innovations be promoted.
On the one hand, the school-based discussion and the first taster of the practical handling of artificial intelligence should awaken the students’ interest and understanding of what this technology is, what it can do and where it is used. On the other hand, the first practical contact is also intended to ensure that this area represents an attractive (?) career perspective for the students and to impart initial skills even before their studies, as well as to remove the inhibitions of girls in particular to pursue a technically oriented career path. It is also intended to counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
About the cooperation
Since the beginning of the year, hessian.AI and KI macht Schule have been working hand in hand to bring knowledge about artificial intelligence to Hessen’s schools. Six courses have already been held successfully, and further courses are being planned.
hessian.AI – Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence
The Hessian Center for Artificial Intelligence, which is in the process of being founded, pursues the goal of conducting excellent basic research with concrete practical relevance and also of promoting transfer to industry and society. The center, in which 13 Hessian universities are involved, bundles the expertise of 22 AI scientists and expands it through 22 new professorships.
Based on cutting-edge research as conducted at the TU Darmstadt and other Hessian universities, significant contributions are made to the research and development of novel AI systems with human-like thinking and communication capabilities, which are attributed to the so-called “Third Wave of AI”.
KI macht Schule
KI macht Schule gUG (haftungsbeschränkt) brings AI education to German schools with over 70 PhD students, undergraduates and young professionals in eight local groups – both on-site in the classroom and online. In addition to courses directly for students, further training is also provided for teachers.
