Making AI Education Accessible: The Need for Affordable, Customizable Learning Modules

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly integrated into our daily lives, making AI education crucial for all. However, potential risks such as data leaks and unintended discrimination highlight the need for AI literacy. To make AI education more accessible, learning modules need to be affordable and customizable. Existing robot platforms like NAO and Poppy have been successful in classrooms, but their cost is prohibitive for some. Commercial kits like LEGO Boost offer a more affordable option. An ideal AI learning module would be affordable, open-source, and customizable. Emphasizing human-centered AI and AI ethics is also important. A simplified, open-source robot platform could make AI education more affordable and accessible.

What is the Importance of AI Education in Today’s Society?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prevalent in our society and global economy. From entertainment to healthcare and education, AI-powered technologies are being integrated into our daily lives. Large-language models (LLM) such as Chat GPT OpenAI have shown tremendous potential in improving work efficiency in various industries, from software engineering to script editing and generation. Self-driving companies like Waymo and Cruise have deployed fleets of driverless taxis, which could revolutionize daily commuting.

However, with these promising developments come potential risks. Advances in AI may further widen the gap in inequality and leave behind users without sufficient AI literacy. For example, users of LLM-based services may unintentionally leak out their proprietary or personal data if they do not have a basic understanding of how LLMs use and learn from their data. Without a sufficient understanding of AI ethics and fairness, users may blindly trust products such as AI-based resume screening services, resulting in unintended discrimination against marginalized groups.

Therefore, it is crucial to provide accessible and engaging AI education and literacy not only for future AI researchers but also for everyone who may use or encounter AI in their daily life.

How Can AI Education be Made More Accessible and Engaging?

To make AI education more accessible, learning modules need to be affordable for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds and customizable for learners with different learning goals. Many existing robot platforms have been validated as successful resources for AI/ML and robotics education. Platforms such as the NAO robot developed by Aldebaran or the Poppy robot have already been adapted to both K-12 and college classrooms to support better STEM learning.

However, the cost of these robot platforms is not yet affordable for schools with limited resources. Alternatively, there are many commercial toy-like educational robot kits such as LEGO Boost or Loona available on the market. These kits are relatively inexpensive and are usually paired with a graphical programming user interface (UI). They have been shown to be a great affordable resource for learning introductory AI topics. However, their one-size-fits-all, closed-source design results in fixed learning goals and hard-to-customize robot hardware and software.

To enable accessibility for all learners, an AI learning module that is affordable, provides open-source materials, documentation, and video tutorials, and is customizable and extendable to meet a wide range of learning goals is needed.

What is the Role of Human-Centered AI and AI Ethics in AI Education?

Existing AI learning modules focus mainly on AI agents without any social or expressive capabilities, so they have not yet considered human-centered AI and AI ethics. In robotics, the existing curricula and learning modules have already extensively covered conventional AI topics such as machine learning, software engineering, and mechanical engineering.

However, because of the social and personal nature of a socially assistive robot companion, this module also puts a special emphasis on human-centered AI, enabling students to develop a better understanding of human-AI interaction and AI ethics through hands-on learning activities.

With open-source documentation, assembling manuals, and affordable materials, students from different socioeconomic backgrounds can personalize their learning experience based on their individual educational goals.

How Effective is the AI Learning Module?

To evaluate the student-perceived quality of the AI learning module, a usability testing workshop was conducted with 15 college students recruited from a minority-serving institution. The results indicate that the AI module is effective, easy to follow, and engaging, and it increases student interest in studying AI/ML and robotics in the future.

This work contributes towards accessible and engaging AI education in human-AI interaction for college and high school students. It is hoped that this work will contribute towards accessible and engaging AI education in human-AI interaction for college and high school students.

How Can AI Education be Made More Affordable?

Based on the robot platform proposed in Suguitan and Hoffman 2019, the robot’s open-source hardware design was simplified for ease of assembly, reducing the number of fabricated components from 63 to 20 with only 3D-printed components. These improvements shorten the robot assembly time and make the robot more affordable and accessible.

This approach aims to provide accessible and engaging AI education and literacy not only for future AI researchers but also for everyone who may use or encounter AI in their daily life. By making AI education more affordable and accessible, it is hoped that more individuals will be able to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate an increasingly AI-driven world.