Aug. 26 (UPI) — First lady Melania Trump announced a new Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge Tuesday, inviting students and educators to participate.
All U.S. students and educators in Kindergarten through the 12th grade will be invited to participate in the program, the first lady said in a recorded video of her announcement of the program.
“Our educators will guide and empower you through this process to build a brighter, stronger future for us all. Good luck,” she said.
The challenge will task students with completing a project that involves “the study, development, or use of an AI method or tool to address community challenges,” while educators will aim to “focus on creative approaches to teaching or using AI technologies in K-12 learning,” a page on AI.gov said.
All students who provide a compliant submission to the challenge will receive a Presidential Certificate of Participation, according to the challenge guidelines.
Additional prizes, including Cloud Credits, will be offered to students and educators who submissions are recognized at the state and regional levels, while those who are selected as National Champions will receive all of the prizes offered to the other ranks in addition to $10,000 for the place of learning in the elementary category or $10,000 per team member for winners in the middle school, high school and educator categories.
“In just a few short years, artificial intelligence will be the engine driving every business sector across our economy. It is important America leads the rest of the world,” Melania Trump said in a press release.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April to incorporate AI into classrooms and prioritize federal funds to help use it in all subjects.
“The Presidential AI Challenge will be the first step in preparing our next generation with a base understanding of this important new technology,” the first lady said.
She said that she reflected on her own experience with AI while creating the audiobook for her memoir, Melania, emphasizing the “transformative potential and inherent risks of this technology.”
“Just as America once led the world into the skies, we are poised to lead again, this time in the age of AI,” Melania Trump said.
