As a showcase of youth innovation, futuristic artificial intelligence technology took center stage at Rancho Cordova, where students showed off their bots.
Rancho Cordova High School students get hands-on experience with artificial intelligence. Now, these young innovators are putting their skills to the test by designing AI bots using real-world applications.
“These are the computer engineers of the future,” Mayor Garrett Gatewood said.
So far, they have two high-profile clients. The City of Rancho Cordova helps sponsor student research. The mayor says this is part of the city’s efforts to become a hub for AI technology.
“It’s employment, education and job readiness all rolled into one,” Gatewood said. “We are building what is called an AI ecosphere.”
The students designed an online AI portal for the city that can provide customer service and track incoming questions and concerns.
“This is so that the city can understand how many customers are calling, why they are calling and what is the reason for the call,” said program facilitator Jyoti Periasamy.
The Sacramento Municipal Facilities District also signed up for a demo of a student-created chat agent. You can perform tasks such as teaching customers how to save money through their energy usage.
“This is a much more efficient way to do work using new technology,” Gatewood said.
Rancho Cordova’s past generations of tech workers helped build the rockets that put men on the moon, and while those jobs are now gone, the mayor and other AI advocates say training today’s youth is critical to staying relevant in the high-tech job market.
“It’s in our DNA to be the science capital, so we’re just going back to what we’ve always done,” Gatewood said.
Last September, the Rancho Cordova City Council approved spending $5 million toward creating a new AI and robot economy, and a portion of that money is now funding this education program.
