1 Million for 1 Billion Foundation (1M1B) has announced the launch of the AI Youth Labs in India. The launch was announced in the presence of Hawa Diallo, Chief, Civil Society Unit, United Nations Department of Global Communications, New York and principals of 1M1B partner schools.
The AI Youth Labs is a global innovation lab initiative by 1M1B to accelerate the fulfilment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by the year 2030. The AI Youth Lab will empower and enable youth to ideate and prototype solutions leveraging AI. In India, this initiative hopes to accelerate disruptive ideas by engaging young talent in the country, providing them support by way of tools and AI mentors from India and the Silicon Valley to bring the best ideas to life.
The AI Youth Lab will be equipped with resources and tools required for students to get a hands-on experience of working with artificial intelligence. With the idea of making AI learning a fun experience, the students will be provided expert mentorship and participation in a range of hot-topic discussions, trainings and hands-on activities to learn about how AI is impacting the society today and how they can use AI for good while developing their skills required to succeed in the age of the Fourth industrial revolution.
On the occasion of the launch, Manav Subodh, Co-founder 1M1B Foundation said, “Over the years, 1M1B has been working closely with youth to create sustainable solutions supporting the SDGs. We are in the decade of action and there is so much to be done if we need to achieve the SDGs by 2030. AI has the power to amplify the impact of the solutions for social good. Through the AI Youth Lab, we believe we can help young boys and girls create more positive impact using AI while they also learn future skills like collaboration, emotional intelligence which will make them job ready for a fast changing future when they step out of school.”
A huge component of the AI Lab is the AI Super League (a kind of AI Olympiad) which will offer AI mentoring and get AI talent from India recognition at the national and international level (at UN and Silicon Valley). Some of the unique things that will be offered to students in the lab will be a) For entry level students: Mentoring by a chatbot and an online forum called AI Guru b) For students who move to the national level: Coding support and mentoring by experts from India c) For students who move to international level: Prototype development and mentoring by experts from Silicon Valley. Top students from India will receive scholarships and will be invited to present their work at a 3-day event (AI Super League finals) at Silicon Valley.
The first few labs will be established in 50 selected schools in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Delhi NCR region. Based on learnings and outcomes, more labs will be announced subsequently. The AI Youth Lab will be co-created by 1M1B in partnership with selected educators and principals. Selected educators will be invited to share best practices at the United Nations at the 6th annual 1M1B Activate Impact Summit in December 2020 in New York.
In the first year, 25,000 students are expected to get access to the AI Youth Labs. 1M1B’s vision is to introduce AI to one million students in the next 5 years and get them future-ready.