Supporting Inclusive Participation in the Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence

Northeastern University, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into everyday life is increasing. This creates a parallel increase in the difficulty and importance of related discussions related to AI research, policy, and public debate. Broad and informed participation in these discussions by a diverse community is critical to the nation's future. This project supports the engagement of AI educators from a diverse set of backgrounds to participate in the Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence (EAAI) in 2019 and 2020. EAAI provides a venue for AI researchers and educators to discuss pedagogical issues and share resources related to teaching and using AI in education across a variety of curricular levels, from K-12 through postgraduate training. Increased diversity in EAAI participation has the potential to broaden the pipeline of AI professionals as well as the types of discussions surrounding the development of AI technologies, including those of ethical implications and unintended consequences. The symposium is co-located with the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Conference on Artificial Intelligence. This is one of the premier conferences on AI, drawing wide domestic and international participation. Co-location allows EAAI participants to engage in discussions of both cutting-edge disciplinary research and state-of-the-art methods of educational delivery and assessment. This project addresses the need to develop a diverse set of faculty to educate the next generation of AI researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. The goal of this effort is to increase understanding of how to engage a more demographically diverse pool of AI educators. Support for participation in EAAI over two years will be provided to ten students, ten current higher education faculty and secondary school educators, ten new or future educators, and four invited speakers. Priority for support will be given to first authors/presenters, paper co-authors, Birds-of-a-Feather undergraduate participants, and poster authors. The Selection Committee will be composed of the EAAI co-chairs and track chairs. Recruitment will target women and other groups underrepresented in the AI community, as well as late-stage graduate students or early-stage faculty. This last group, the New or Future Educators, will be invited to assume future EAAI leadership positions. This project aims to collect, analyze, and disseminate data on the efficacy of recruitment venues for achieving a demographically diverse EAAI community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.