TYSONS CORNER, Va. — In Tysons Corner, Virginia at the Capital One Hall, hundreds of students gathered, looking to blaze a trail in artificial intelligence. They attended the Artificial Intelligence Summit held by the Girls Computing League.
When it comes to AI, the future is already here, and it's in these kids' hands. More than 300 students attended the Youth AI Summit, some coming from across the country. This is happening at a time when still, only 53% of US schools offer even a basic computer science class, according to Education Week.
"They don’t have regular access to this kind of education in their schools, so teaching them this would really help them be able to pursue careers in AI," said Saanvi Uppalapati, a sophomore at Langley High School.
Organized by the Girls Computing League, the students' message is: Don't fear AI. Embrace it.
"What's really exciting is how AI is getting more and more hidden in our lives and how it's affecting us," said Brian Zhou, a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School. "Just two days ago, Google released a groundbreaking paper using AI to reduce 35% of jet emissions. All of these things are really cool applications of AI that you wouldn’t think of at a first glance."
This is the 4th year for the summit and interest in AI is particularly high because students say it's over this past year they’ve seen AI used more than ever by their fellow students, sometimes in cases where the students are not supposed to be using it.
"I know a lot of students who use ChatGPT to help generate papers or in class, they use it to generate data, and so teachers are trying to set down ground rules and use software to track things like that," said Meghna Krishnavarapu, rising senior at James Madison High School. "So it obviously can be very bad because it affects students learning because they're getting so dependent on things like this."
The free summit hosted speakers from across several industries, including a DC Superior Court judge.
"We’re seeing these cases and these unresolvable questions of when a self-driving car is killing someone and someone is not at the wheel, who is responsible?" said Zhou. "We saw that case in 2018 and there’s going to be a lot more questions that we have to grapple with."
Students also competed with business pitches for AI, presenting the seeds of groundbreaking new ideas.
"The pitch that I've submitted is art restoration with AI, I think it’s a very good way to restore cultural heritage and preserve history," said Aryan Krishnavarapu, a sophomore at James Madison High School.