The Mark Cuban Foundation’s Artificial Intelligence Bootcamp Initiative Teaches AI Concepts to High School Students through a 4-Saturday Bootcamp in the Fall
APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN!
PASADENA, CA – Pasadena Educational Foundation will host a Mark Cuban Foundation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp for high school students at no-cost for a 3rd time in the Fall of 2023. The AI Bootcamp in Pasadena is targeted at socio-economically disadvantaged public high school students and those groups underrepresented in the technology industry. Mentors from NASA JPL will introduce students to basic AI concepts and skills on the Caltech campus.
Pasadena Educational Foundation is one of 28+ host companies selected to host camps across the US in Fall 2023.
The Pasadena Educational Foundation Bootcamp will be held over four consecutive Saturdays starting on October 14th and ending on November 4th. The bootcamp will run each Saturday from 11-3 pm and, if accepted, high school students must commit to attending all four sessions.
The student and parent applications are now open at markcubanai.org/pefpr. Students do not need any prior experience with computer science, programming, or robotics to apply and attend.
With AI being a relevant topic on many news sources, students will learn what artificial intelligence is and is not, where they already interact with AI in their own lives, and the ethical implications of AI systems, including but not limited to TikTok recommendations, smart home assistants, facial recognition, and self-driving cars to name a few. Participants will also learn how Large Language Models like ChatGPT are changing life as we know it by answering questions, telling original stories, and even writing computer code.
Students will benefit from volunteer corporate mentor instructors from NASA JPL who are knowledgeable about AI, ML and data science and able to help students quickly understand material normally taught at a collegiate level. As part of the 4-hour curriculum, students will work with open source tools to build their own AI applications related to Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Generative AI.
The Mark Cuban Foundation provides the bootcamp’s curriculum materials, trains corporate volunteer mentors, and recruits and scores applications for local students selected to attend camp. In addition, the Mark Cuban Foundation and Pasadena Educational Foundation work together to provide food, transportation, and access to laptops for students during the program.
“It was a lot of fun, I learned things I didn’t even know were possible with A.I. and their real-world applications showed me just how much it will change our world.”
– Brandon B., 10th Grade, 2022 AI Bootcamp Participant
Founded by Mark Cuban in 2019, the AI Bootcamp initiative has hosted no-cost AI bootcamps for students across several US cities such as Dallas, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Atlantic City. The Mark Cuban Foundation has impacted 900+ students and plans to increase participation year over year.
Students interested in applying to the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp should do so before Friday, September 8th, 2023 at markcubanai.org/pefpr. To learn more about the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamps, please visit markcubanai.org/faq.
