Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Utah is integrating AI education in K-12 and higher education systems to prepare the next generation for a workforce that involves AI.
- The Utah State Board of Education and a handful of individual districts are focusing on implementing AI into the K-12 curriculum.
- Higher education institutions like Salt Lake Community College and the University of Utah are focusing on AI literacy and research.
SANDY — Tech and education leaders in Utah think the state is well-positioned to be a leader when it comes to preparing the workforce for AI integration.
That work is already happening at the K-12 level and throughout higher education, panelists at the Utah AI Summit said on Wednesday.
The role of the K-12 system
As digital natives (a person who has grown up in the information and technology age) K-12 students are in a unique situation when it comes to AI.
"Our students who are coming into our classrooms, they've entered a world where AI is invisible to them, to some degrees. If they're in a house that's a smart home, if they're playing on an iPad, if they're dealing with an algorithm that is recommending videos to them — they're dealing with AI in an invisible day from day one of their technology use," said Matthew Winters, AI specialist at the Utah State Board of Education.
So, how is AI being built into the classroom curriculum?
This question is, specifically, what Winters and the USBE are working on. It's not just about preparing students, either. It's about helping parents and teachers integrate AI technology.
"We're working on pathways through CTE (career and technical education) to get the bridge courses to higher ed and to our community colleges, but then also working on things like AI literacy from K to grade to help support students in their journey with artificial intelligence," Winters said.
Like many things in the realm of AI, what that looks like is constantly changing.
One example of AI integration can be found in what the Jordan School District is doing.
During the 2023-2024 school year, the district turned to SchoolAI, a Lehi-based company working to integrate generative AI into K-12 classrooms. Now, over 2,350 teachers in the district are using the platform in their classrooms.
SchoolAI offers over 1,000 activities with AI tutors, interactive games, simulations, well-being check-ins and a library of grade- and subject-specific activities. Teachers also benefit from dashboards with real-time feedback and moderation, allowing them to easily track student progress and develop tailored learning plans to meet students where they are.
"When you put great tools in the hands of teachers, they become even better as teachers innovate and think about how they can improve learning for their students," said Anthony Godfrey, Jordan School District superintendent.
The role of higher education
As the main pipeline for a majority of the workforce, AI integration is at the forefront of how Utah's colleges and universities can prepare the coming generations of employees to be effective workers in a new era of technology.
And, no, AI is not going to take all the jobs.
"We were talking to an employer just two weeks ago who said to us, 'People should not be worried about losing their job to AI, people should be worried about losing their job to people who understand AI,'" said Salt Lake Community College President Greg Peterson.
To that end, he said SLCC is working to build AI experience into different industry pipelines so students are experiencing it before entering the workforce. Like the internet many years ago, AI is a rapidly evolving entity.
"A lot of what we do is prepare the future workforce to think differently about AI. Giving them some basic skills (and) concepts ... and then ensuring that we're providing these loops because we're going to continue to learn," Peterson said.
SLCC is not alone in the venture of building a future of AI-literate citizens, either.
The University of Utah, in October 2023, launched a $100 million AI research initiative digging into the ways AI can be used responsibly to tackle societal issues.
The Responsible AI Initiative is led by Manish Parashar, director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute at the U., and will look to advance AI in a way that achieves "societal good" while also protecting privacy, civil rights and liberties and promoting principles of accountability, transparency and equity, the university said.
The initiative's initial focus is on three thematic areas that build on the U.'s research strengths: Environment, health care and wellness and teaching and learning.
South of Utah's capital city, Utah Valley University has rolled out a graduate certificate in AI, providing fundamental and advanced skills in the principles, algorithms and technologies that enable AI and cybersecurity.
These are just a few examples of how Utah's higher education institutions are not shying away from AI in education, but leaning into it.
"We're defining the roadmap for the future for the next generations. And the way that we attack this and embrace that and bring policy and education together is really going to dictate what happens five, 10, 20 years from now and what our ecosystem looks like," said Cydni Tetro, president of the Women's Tech Council. "If we don't take it seriously ... we're going to end up with gaps that will create challenges in the future."
