Desirous to be taught AI? Mark Cuban has a free AI bootcamp which may be coming to a metropolis close to you

However for a lot of college students, Mark Cuban is the rationale why they’re capable of study arguably one of the vital rising abilities proper now: AI.

This yr, in additional than 18 cities throughout the nation, highschool college students will have the ability to be taught the most recent developments of AI, together with ChatGPT, fully free of charge by way of the Mark Cuban Basis AI Bootcamps Initiative.

“There are two kinds of firms on the earth proper now—those who perceive AI and people who don’t,” Cuban tells Fortune in an e mail.

“I need to see extra youngsters prepared and excited to be taught extra about AI and be a part of the best way it’s altering society. By democratizing AI training, we empower these youngsters to form their futures and contribute meaningfully to the digital financial system.”

Bringing free AI training nationwide

Based in 2019, hundreds of scholars have AI coaching in topics like machine studying, pure language processing, and AI ethics.

The necessities to use for 2024’s bootcamps are easy. In reality, no coding or tech data is required. College students simply should be in ninth–twelfth grade subsequent college yr and dwelling inside driving distance of one of many camps. The places embody:

• California: Pasadena; Mountain View
• Florida: Fort Lauderdale; Miami; Palm Seaside Gardens
• Georgia: Atlanta
• Illinois: Chicago
• Indiana: Indianapolis
• Michigan: Detroit; Pontiac
• Minnesota: Minneapolis
• Missouri: St. Louis
• Nebraska: Omaha
• Pennsylvania: Philadelphia
• Texas: Addison; Houston; Plano
• Washington D.C.

For 2024, every bootcamp will happen over three Saturdays on November 2, 9, and 16 and can host 20 to 25 college students. The lecturers encompass volunteers from native companies and companies. Beforehand, AI consultants from Walmart and McDonald’s had been amongst them.

“It’s not a lot that we’re addressing gaps within the training world, however we acknowledge that instructing youngsters about cutting-edge applied sciences shouldn’t be the power of most public colleges. We’re eradicating as many boundaries as doable to present our college students a hands-on option to study AI and truly get to make use of the know-how to construct functions that remedy issues of their every day lives,” Cuban says.

Many universities have taken related approaches to instructing in regards to the quickly rising subject of AI. Faculties like Columbia, Caltech, and the College of Houston provide AI bootcamps. And even firms like Google and IBM have methods to be taught AI topics, immediate engineering for instance, on-line. However, many choices vary by way of worth and are largely fully digital.

Cuban’s emphasis on training

This isn’t Cuban’s first foray into the training area. For years, he has been vocal about making faculty extra reasonably priced and easing the burden it locations on college students—particularly in the case of scholar mortgage debt. 

In 2014, he launched a U.S. scholar mortgage debt clock (it presently reads at over $2.1 trillion—which exceeds bank card and auto mortgage debt, mixed). Extra lately, he expressed his assist for President Joe Biden’s preliminary proposal to forgive $10,000 in scholar mortgage debt per borrower.

However above all, Cuban has famous that having liberal arts training—and making use of it to the world of tech—may be extraordinarily precious.

“AI must be taught in regards to the world because it occurs and given totally different views in regards to the output of fashions. So attempt to discover methods to use your liberal arts training to AI, and I believe you may be extra valued than individuals anticipate,” he notes.

AI is broadly anticipated to remodel the character of the workforce within the coming years, with some jobs doubtless to get replaced and lots of extra complemented by the brand new know-how. Based on the IMF, about 60% of jobs in superior economics could also be impacted by AI. 

Cuban’s bootcamp hopes to play a component in making ready college students for varsity and jobs of the long run.

“I hope college students will use their newfound abilities to innovate, create, and finally disrupt industries,” Cuban says. “The objective is for them to use what they’ve realized to construct profitable companies and remedy issues of their communities. And we hope the camp shall be simply the beginning of their AI journey they usually’ll proceed to be taught.”