Chances are you’ve used some sort of artificial intelligence today, and you might not have even realized it.
Unlocking your phone with facial recognition, browsing Google using its suggested search terms, and viewing recommended content on social media all involve the use of AI, Mercer University rising sophomore Kusum Neupane recently told a group of high school students in the Upward Bound program at Middle Georgia State University in Macon. Upward Bound is a federally funded program that supports disadvantaged youth seeking higher education.
“AI has been a very hot and burning topic, and even without knowing it, we are using AI,” Neupane, an electrical engineering major, said later in a phone interview. “I think it’s very important for us to be aware of technologies that we are using and might not be aware of.”
She gave the presentation as part of her participation in the Mercer Undergraduate Research Scholar Training Initiative, a 10-week summer program designed to provide students the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge research early in their academic careers.
Neupane’s project focuses on creating a curriculum that introduces AI and cybersecurity to elementary and middle school students locally and globally, through study abroad and Mercer On Mission. Dr. Donald Ekong, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer engineering, and Dr. Johnathan Yerby, associate professor of computer science and cybersecurity, are her research advisors.
“In my previous study abroad programs, we’ve taught middle school children how to do programming. We are interested in adding some more topics to what we teach,” Dr. Ekong said. “By the end of this summer, Kusum would have helped us to put together an AI and cybersecurity curriculum that can be used.
“We are planning to do a study abroad to South Africa. We are also planning to do a Mercer On Mission to Ghana. So, whatever she puts together is going to be incorporated into what we use for those programs.”
The three-hour session with Upward Bound students was the first time Neupane presented her AI curriculum, which is still in development. She explained to students what AI is, how it works, and the ethics of using it.
Neupane integrated interactive elements into her presentation to engage students. They brainstormed their own potential uses for AI and played online games using artificial intelligence. One game prompted students to draw an item and have AI guess it. Another showed students an image and asked them to describe it for a lesson on how to write AI prompts. Students also made their own face filters.
“It was fun. Overall, the project was good,” Neupane said. “After the session was over, I talked with the organizer, and she told me that there was this one student who was not that active in the session that they had before. But she said that he was really active the day I was leading the session. I just felt happy that I was able to make someone interested in learning about certain topics.”
Dr. Ekong said Neupane did a good job relating to the students.
“It was a very good curriculum because it included hands-on activities,” he said. “She was able to reach out to the students and get them involved in the presentation. I was really, really impressed by her performance.”
