AI for Good Challenge
+400 Points
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days, even in places you might not have realized. While there are enormous benefits of AI, there’s also plenty of ethical issues and ways it can be used in harmful ways. In this Challenge, you'll address the question:
How can the power of AI be used for good? What new products, business ideas, or marketing campaigns could you create to leverage AI for a positive impact in the world?
Note: This Challenge is still available to complete to earn points and add to your resumes! The prize money was awarded in the past to the following winners.
Skills you'll develop
- Problem Solving
- Communication
- Social Awareness
Explore
AI is everywhere! But, what exactly is it? How does it work? Why is it important? What does it have to do with you? What are the issues with it? Learn all about it here. And, start thinking about what you may want to create that uses AI in a positive way. You do not need to watch or read everything here, but by the end of the phase, you should be able to:
Explain what AI is and how it impacts our daily lives
Show your knowledge of some of the issues with AI
Identify examples of how AI is being used for good
Understand the Explore Phase
⏱️Time: 2- 4 Hours (Week 1 of the Challenge)
✏️Use the optional KNOtebook to record notes and questions
💼Mentor: Ask a mentor questions about the topic
🎯Future-Ready Skills: Social Awareness, Initiative and Self-Direction
Take the AI Poll
What do you think of AI? Share your opinion and see what other high school students think. After you take the poll, be sure to select "See previous responses" for the results.
Build Background Knowledge
You may have heard of AI, but do you really know what it is? Artificial intelligence, or AI, refers to a computer system that uses algorithms (steps and goals) to learn from data in order to make decisions for us, or help us make decisions. AI machines can be trained to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.
Learn about AI
Watch at least two videos to dig deeper into AI.
AI and Some of It's Issues (4:38)
What is Artificial Intelligence? (2:18)
How AI Works (1:39)
AI Explained (4:45)
Machine Learning and Human Bias
It's easy to think that AI is thinking for itself and gathering data on its own. But, the reality is that the data it is collecting is from work done by humans, and like humans, despite good intentions, there are biases. Watch a video to explore some examples of biases as a result of AI and some of the efforts to address these biases. You'll learn more about this later. You can enlarge the video to full screen.
Generative AI is all the Buzz!
AI that determines which videos to play on TikTok for you or suggests your next pair of shoes on Amazon is called Traditional (or Analytical) AI. But, the newer AI that is writing essays and creating never-seen-before images is called Generative AI. Generative AI can create new images, text, audio, and video. And, it is so good and so real, that you may not even realize that something was created by AI. So many companies are experimenting with generative AI - from Google, to Adobe, to Youtube and more!
Read more: What is generative AI and why is it so popular? Here's everything you need to know
Read about some concerns with Generative AI: 10 reasons to worry about generative AI
History of AI
Did you know that AI has been around for over 70 years! Take a look at the timeline below to see how far we've come. You may want to click the + signs to view a few videos in the timeline and enlarge the whole timeline in the right-hand corner.
AI Everyday
From Alexa to Amazon to Netflix to Snapchat and TikTok, AI is all around us, whether or not we even realize it!
How AI Works in Everyday Life
You may not even realizing that you are using AI! It really is all around us. Check out the video to see how it's used in our personal lives, jobs, transportation, education, health, and more.
Your Daily Uses
Shopping
You look at your smartphone and it opens automatically (facial recognition), then you say, “open Amazon” (voice assistant) and see videos and products recommended for you. All this, even before shopping. You may then use a voice-enabled shopping assistant to help you with your purchase.
Read more: How Amazon Uses AI to Dominate Ecommerce: Top 5 Use Cases
Snapchat
Need another friend? Aside from all the other cool things on Snapchat, Snapchat introduced My AI, a personalized chatbot that can offer ideas for your BFF’s birthday gift; suggest a recipe for dinner, or answer a question about a football score. My AI is intended to become another friend.
TikTok
TikTok’s AI tracks your behaviors to personalize and enhance your experience. And, it provides some pretty cool special effects. You may want to try AI Greenscreen or AI Art to improve your effects.
See how AI is used on the back-end: How the 5 Biggest Social Media Sites use AI
Videos
Similar to other sites, YouTube uses AI to customize your video experience and provides background options and special effects. It also uses AI to remove inappropriate and offensive videos. Netflix and Spotify use AI to recommend content to you.
Gaming
You might find them annoying, helpful, or challenging, from Navi in The Legend of Zelda to Cortana in Halo, NPCs in gaming can create more realistic and challenging opponents and offer sidekicks to help you. These characters use AI to communicate and interact with human players in a more realistic way. Did you know that OpenAI built a Minecraft-playing bot by having it watch over 70,000 hours of video of people playing the game?
Meet an AI Professional Effects Creator
Watch the video to hear from a TikTok Effects Creator, at the Tik Tok Effects House, and see what they have to say about making more inclusive effects.
ChatGPT
It’s free, it’s easy, and it’s causing an uproar in schools around the world. You can type “Write me a 1,000 word essay on artificial intelligence” and within seconds ChatGPT spits out an essay! Do you think what it produces is accurate and of good quality? Should these tools be allowed in schools? Judge for yourself. Recently, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4 which can respond to both text and images. Give it a photo of the food in your fridge and ask it what you could make, and GPT-4 (paid version) will come up with recipes that use the ingredients in your picture. And, it even understands jokes.
TRY IT
(*similar tools to ChatGPT, but no login required)
Write an essay on any topic: You Write
AI in Industries
AI is now used in most industries. Take a look at some examples and some of the issues that come with AI. Consider other industries where AI is used.
Finance
Finance
AI in banking helps with fraud detection by analyzing financial transactions to see patterns. AI also helps to predict and assess loans. Unfortunately, just like humans, loans and mortgages that are backed by AI can be racially biased.
Healthcare
Healthcare
AI is used to detect diseases, identify cancer cells, analyze conditions, help ensure early diagnosis, and recommend personalized treatments, for example. But AI might be wrong. For example: it may recommend a wrong drug or not notice a tumor on a scan.
Hospitality
Hospitality
Hotels may have facial recognition for room entry, voice-activated personal assistants, and robot butlers delivering room service. The hotel industry creates a lot of jobs. Does that mean less jobs and fewer human interactions at a hotel?
Advertising
Advertising
AI helps produce personalized media campaigns based on customers’ interests and preferences. AI causes privacy and security issues, and can be biased. Bias may prevent people from being exposed to certain brands.
Future of Jobs and AI
97 million new jobs!
While AI will eliminate millions of current jobs, it will also create millions of new ones. A Future of Jobs Report, by the World Economic Forum, predicts that 85 million jobs will be lost to automation by 2025. But, 97 million new positions will be created as industries figure out the balance between machines and humans.
What jobs will it replace and what jobs won't it replace? Is AI a threat to jobs or an opportunity for new jobs? How will it impact you??? Watch a video and decide for yourself!
Can You Be Fooled?
Give it a try!
Biases and Ethics
Do you trust AI? From privacy and hacking concerns, ethical issues, evidence of biases, and of course the Hollywood scenarios of robots taking over the world, should we trust AI? Is it friend or foe? Decide for yourself.
AI Ethics Questions
Busted
Remember online school? Well, with virtual learning, some colleges started using virtual proctoring software. This is an AI technology that monitors student's every move during tests to watch for signs of cheating. Check out this replica that was created by Youth Radio.
Try It!
Bias Examples
Watch at least one video.
Bias in AI (1:51)
A, Ain't I a Woman (3:33)
Ethics & AI: Equal Access and Algorithmic Bias
AI Bias
As you know by now, algorithms can become sexist, racist, ableist, and overall unfair when they are programmed with racial, gender, or other types of discrimination. For example, AI can automate discriminatory hiring practices if the algorithms are using data that has bias, such as men getting higher paying jobs. All too often the data sets use the experiences of white men, while marginalizing and erasing the experience of people of color, particularly women of color. Algorithmic models are also often discriminatory to disabled people, often for some of the same reasons - as groups who are excluded from data sets.
These are not opinions, they are facts! See some data:
AI for Good!
"We created these technologies, and we need to choose how we want to use them, otherwise, we will be used by them." (Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief, MIT Technology Review)
Creativity and Social Skills Important!
Jobs that don't require social skills and are routine, like telemarketers, are likely to be taken over by AI. Jobs that are both social, but have some routine, like teachers, humans and AI will work together. For jobs that are creative but not social, like scientists, human creativity will be enhanced by AI. And for jobs that are both creative and social, like executives, humans will shine. (What AI Cannot do)
AI for Good Examples
From cancer screening to saving the bees, AI is being used to address critical issues in our world. See some examples and start to think about your own ideas for using AI to address an issue that matters to you.
Breaking Communication Barriers (2:26)
Flood Forecasting (1:12)
Talking to Animals (3:59)
Substance Abuse Among Homeless Youth (1:28)
Mentor Moment: Ask a Question about AI!
Did you know that there are professionals, who created the Challenge, standing by to help you? They will also be judging your final pitches, so be sure to take advantage throughout the Challenge and post your questions on your dashboard. They want you to win!
What are you curious about when it comes to how AI can be used for good? Ask them any questions that came up for you during the Explore phase.
Next Steps
Take a Look at These Ideas!
Plantpal
Problem: People, including farmers and gardeners have trouble keeping plants alive
Solution: Plantpal is an all-inclusive AI assisted plant care app. Not enough sunlight? Not watering it enough? Pest problems? Plantpal can identify problems and solutions so you never kill a plant again. Plantpal sets watering reminders, keeps track of the growth of your plants, and you can even meet fellow members of the plant-loving community.
Companion
Problem: People who need companionship and emotional support but who can't responsibly care for a live animal.
Solution: The companion pets are AI-powered pets that function like real dogs and cats providing an authentic companionship experience. AI is also used to track users’ interactions with their pet – recording things like types, frequency, and the level of interactions. This information is accessible to caretakers so they can monitor their loved ones’ activity and awareness.
Omnisense
Problem: Insulin pumps are a common treatment option for kids with diabetes, offering parents and caregivers a sense of ease and control over a child’s health. Traditional insulin pumps rely on constant input from the user.
Solution: Omnisense implements artificial intelligence instead. The Omnisense pump automates insulin dosing based on set user ranges and data from the built-in continuous glucose monitor.
Ready to Move On?
Do you feel prepared to move on and start thinking about how you might address this issue - of creating AI for good? Check your understanding of the issue by answering the following questions (in your KNOtebok or by explaining to someone.)
AI
AI
What is AI is and how does it work? How does it impact your daily life?
AI Issues
AI Issues
What are some of the issues with AI?
