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On a recent Thursday morning, Michael Taubman asked a class of seniors at Washington Park High School at North Star Academy.
“In schools, we don't use it to trick our jobs like we use AI as a tool. It should be like an assistant,” said Amira Farana, 17, who is interested in a career in real estate law.
Aspiring software developer Fernando Infante agreed that AI is a tool that “provides suggestions” and notifies you of work.
“It's like having AI as a partner, not doing the job,” Infante said during class.
Farana and Infante are students in Taubman's class, a one-year programme offered to 93 seniors this year, expanding to juniors next year and calling it a one-year programme that includes a 10-week AI course developed by Taubman and Stanford University.
As part of the course, students use artificial intelligence tools (often seen in negative light due to privacy and other technical concerns). This class is also timely, as 92% of companies plan to invest in more AI over the next three years, according to a report from global consulting firm McKinsey and Company.
The lessons provide students with practical exercises to help them better understand how AI works and how it can be used in their daily lives. It is also designed to allow subject matter teachers to include them as part of their courses, helping high school students to earn a Google Career Certificate for AI Essentials.
Students like Infante used the AI and coding skills they learned in their class to create their own apps, while others created school research, inspiring new ideas about their future careers. Taubman says the goal is to provide agents to students through AI to embrace technological change and stay competitive in the workfield.
“One of the important things for young people today is to make sure they understand that this technology is inevitable,” Taubman told Chalkbeat last month. “People make this, people make decisions about it, and everything that people make has mixed opinions and we should talk about it.”
Students need to know the basics of AI, experts say
Born between 1997 and 2012, as a Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, he graduated from high school, and AI entered a new workforce, and many wondered how technology was used and to what extent.
Almost half of Gen Z students voted by the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup said they use AI every week, according to a newly released survey examining how young people view AI. (The Walton Family Foundation is advocate for Chalkbeat. See the funder list.) More than four Z students of the same generation believe they need to know AI in their future careers, and more than half of schools need to teach them how to use it.
This year, Newark Public School students began using the Khan Academy AI chatbot tutor, known as Kanmigo, which the district launched as a pilot program last year. Some Newark teachers reported that tutoring tools are useful in the classroom, but the district has not released data on whether they can help improve students' performance and test scores. In 2024, the district launched millions of projects to install AI cameras in school buildings to keep students safe.
But, in addition to using AI in schools, students want to feel ready to use it after graduating from high school. According to a survey of Inside Higher ED and College Pulse student audio series, three in four university students say university students are preparing AI in the workplace.
Many of the challenges of using AI regarding the type of learning approach, accuracy, and building trust with technology using AI, says Nhon Ma, CEO of Nunerade, an online learning assistant who uses AI and educators to help students learn STEM concepts. But that's why it's important to immerse students in AI so they can understand how to use it and when to find the problem, MA added.
“We want to prepare young people, especially in terms of technology, towards this competitive world stage, to help them build their own unique capabilities and confidence in their future paths.
For Infante, a senior in Taubman's class, AI has inspired her love for computer science and has deepened her understanding of coding. He used it to track personal milestones and goals and create an app that awards users once they reach the badge. As an aspiring software developer, he learns about AI in high school and feels it has advantages over other students.
Taubman also says it is especially important for students to understand how fast technology is progressing, especially those like Infante are heading towards a career in technology.
“I think it's really important to help young people understand how new this is, but unlike other big new things, the pace is very fast and, in many cases, the impact on their careers is almost instant,” Taubman added.
Students learn that human emotions are important as AI grows
Taubman said it's also important to remember the limits of AI. Students need a basic understanding of how AI works, identifying mistakes and using them accordingly in their careers.
“I don't want students to lose out on internships or jobs because someone else knows how to use AI more than I do, but what I really want is for students to get an internship or job because they are skilled in AI,” says Taubman.
Through Taubman's class, students also identify how AI increases the demand for skills that require human emotion, such as empathy and ethics.
Daniel Akiniele, a 17-year-old senior, said he was interested in a career in industrial and organizational psychology that focuses on human behavior in the workplace.
In Taubman's class, he used custom AI tools on his laptop to explore various scenarios where AI can be used in his career. Many people were involved in talking to someone about their feelings and listening to vocal cues that might indicate that someone is sad or angry. Ultimately, psychology is a career in human connection, and “that's where I come in,” Akinyele said.
“I'm a human, so I understand how people feel, like AI is an emotional feeling that is not visible on people's faces.
A motivated real estate lawyer, Farana also used custom AI tools to consider how much she should rely on AI when writing legal documents. Like writing essays at school, Farana said that experts need to use the original writing in their own work, but that AI could act as a launch pad.
“I think the legal field should ensure that regulations regarding the use of AI should be posted so that AI cannot be used to create an entire case,” Farana said.
In Taubman's class, students also discussed fake images and videos created by AI. Infante, who wants to be a software developer, added that she plans to use AI regularly at work, but thinks it should be regulated to limit disinformation online.
Taubman says it's important for students to have a healthy level of skepticism when it comes to new technology. He encourages students to think about how AI generates images, bigger questions about piracy, and the training process.
“We really want them to feel like they have agents in this world, both their ability to use these systems,” Taubman said.
Jessie Gómez is a reporter for Chalkbeat Newark and covers the city's public education. Please contact Jesse jgomez@chalkbeat.org.
