Algorithms, ChatGPT, Netflix and YouTube: technologies based on artificial intelligence are numerous and now an integral part of our daily lives, sometimes taking on the characteristics of an increasingly pervasive reality that is accessible to everyone.
The benefits that these technologies can bring are well known: with AI, we can transform the way we work, communicate and even access knowledge and therefore educate ourselves. But as with everything, there is also a downside: AI can also pose risks and dangers, especially if we do not understand how it works.
It is therefore essential to educate not only those who work as specialists in AI, but also the entire population, starting with middle school students, who will soon find themselves in a world where AI will play an important role in both their professional and daily lives.
On this front, the DFA/ASP, in collaboration with the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence Studies (IDSIA, USI-SUPSI), is active through a series of training initiatives aimed at teachers and students in middle and high schools, with the aim of developing cross-cutting and critical skills in the use of AI in education.
Based on these initial experiences, DFA/ASP and IDSIA, in collaboration with the Hasler Foundation, which promoted and financed the initiative, have launched an ambitious five-year project aimed at promoting AI literacy in secondary schools in the Canton of Ticino.