Eye on AI: MPS students learn skills to use AI ‘strategically, thoughtfully, intentionally’

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — On a warm July morning, nearly 150 Milwaukee Public Schools students are sitting inside of an auditorium at North Division High.

The youth, ages 10-13, are members of Camp RISE — a free program led by Employ Milwaukee to help them gain skills to become community leaders.

On this particular camp day, kids have their hands raised as they wait to participate in a workshop called “Empowering Future Innovators: Introduction to Generative AI.”

Led by Todd McLees, the founder of HumanSkills.AI, the session is aimed at teaching future generations how to use artificial intelligence ethically.

“It doesn’t take a scientist or an engineer to think that this is going to have a huge impact in the way people work and learn,” McLees told CBS 58’s Ellie Nakamoto-White. “Obviously, it’s the fastest adopted technology in history and so all of those things come in to shape what we’re offering - which is to not lose the humanity, the human aspect of work and learning as it relates to AI.”

McLees’ company works to help AI users “build high cognitive and socio-emotional skills” that are needed to successfully work with the tool.

“Instead of thinking about AI in a transactional way like we do with Google searches, it’s how do we learn to collaborate with what is the most human-like technology that’s ever been created?” McLees said. “It’s really useful to be able to envision yourself sitting alongside of it to say let’s create something together.”

While speaking with children inside of the auditorium, McLees encouraged them to think big when using AI.

“You’re living at this extraordinary time in history, where over the next 10 years it’s going to feel like 100 years of progress,” McLees said into the microphone. “With AI, you can create whatever your mind tells you that you can create.”

However, experts warn that privilege must be used responsibly.

“There’s the concern that every teacher has in the United States about AI - is the loss of critical thinking or the kids never develop critical thinking by because they just offload the workload to AI,” McLees said. “So the more we can help people learn that it’s not just write a paper for me, it’s let’s create something together, the better chance we have to help people not only to build those skills like we normally would, but build them stronger and better and faster than we ever have before.”

During the day, students were able to create pictures and songs with different prompts before they headed into the cafeteria to work on crafting stories.

“We know that they’re using it in transactional ways, but the opportunity is to help them use it strategically and thoughtfully and intentionally,” McLees said. “If they can build good habits now, they’re going to have a much better chance as AI becomes more and more capable over the next year or two.”

Some students, like 12-year-old Jace White, said he uses AI to help answer questions in school.

“I feel like it’s going to be amazing for the future,” White said. “It’ll strike hard and fast when it comes.”

Others, like 13-year-old Clarence Mask, said he doesn’t think AI will take over.

“I think that AI is going to more just advance and instead of taking over, actually become friends with us,” Mask said.

That sentiment was echoed by McLees, who said because AI models are trained to behave in human-like ways, simply saying “please” or “thank you” goes a long way.

“It does produce better results if you’re kind to it,” McLees said.

Dionie Currin, 13, said he likes to use ChatGPT to express his creativity.

“Anything you could think about, or you want to do, you can easily make it possible,” Currin said. “Right now, the future is bright because of all of this stuff. You could have somebody out there that they want to make something, and it could help the world.”

McLees noted that it’s important for young people to learn these skills to bridge the digital gap.

“AI will be the most accessible technology we have ever experienced, but people need access to training so they can build the skills they need to collaborate with AI in healthy and responsible ways,” McLees said, adding that he travels all around to teach diverse communities.

And with the technology continuing to develop rapidly, experts said these tools are meant to help explore what it means to be human — not replace it.

"So, it's not all about efficiency and productivity, it's about leveraging AI to make us better humans,” McLees said. “We have to become better at being human because machines are getting much, much better at being machines."