School-leaver service Year13 has launched a new Artificial Intelligence course to upskill young people in AI, made in collaboration with Microsoft and KPMG, at an event to rally industry support behind youth AI fluency.
The free online course AI Amplified which is part of Year13’s Academy aims to provide all young people with the opportunity to gain AI knowledge and skills to advance their education and careers.
Led by insights from Year13, Microsoft and KPMG’s ‘AI Amplified: What Gen Zs Think of AI’ research report, the AI Amplified program and supporting social campaign have been created to align young people’s key life moments, interests and pain points with relatable and accessible AI solutions.
Guests from Microsoft, KPMG Australia, Commonwealth Bank, Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand, Tech Council of Australia, Future Skills Organisation, and the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation attended the launch function in Sydney’s CBD.
On the night a youth panel including Microsoft Data & AI Technical Specialist Bonita Rui, KFC internal marketing officer Ammaleah Astruc, and UNSW electrical engineering student and student ambassador Jason Ye discussed their experiences with AI while representatives from Year13, Microsoft and KPMG told the audience about their intentions to foster youth AI fluency.
“We were presented with the question of how do we increase interest in the uptake of AI skilling to support this next generation to thrive in all aspects of their study, work and life? In this we were guided by the research where we asked young people which areas they most want to use AI for and have tailored AI Amplified to teach young people how to use AI to support the priority areas of work, study and everyday adulting. From these efforts we at Year13, Microsoft and KPMG are aiming to help learners develop diverse, adaptable and universally applicable skills in AI that they can take forward to any aspect of their lives, from landing a job to budgeting for a new car,” said Year13 Co-Founder Will Stubley.
The course content of AI Amplified covers how generative AI tools work and how young people can use them in their education, to apply for jobs and to help organise their everyday life. It is supported by a ‘by Gen Z for Gen Z’ social campaign to connect key messaging directly with young people.
Supporting tech-marginalised groups, such as females and youth from low socio-economic backgrounds, through in-person activations that provide additional support and education opportunities to these groups, is also a focus of the AI Amplified campaign.
AI Amplified will also be provided to teachers, career advisors and parents through Year13’s Career Tools platform to help them support their students in learning about and adopting responsible AI skills while helping them become fluent in AI themselves.
“Our recent report shows that half of students want to see more AI projects and activities at school – demonstrating a thirst for AI knowledge amongst young Australians. We are excited to be launching this course with Year 13 and Microsoft and taking steps to improve young people’s AI skills. We are particularly challenging ourselves to support equal AI opportunities for all – with a focus on encouraging tech-marginalised groups, and especially females to engage with and learn more about AI,” said KPMG Australia chief digital officer John Munnelly.
“As the next generation of leaders and change makers, it’s important Gen Z students and young professionals are equipped with the skills to learn and adopt generative AI in a responsible manner. Many students are exploring the technology at school and university, but we need to ensure everyone has equitable access to generative AI to augment learning experiences and enhance their digital skills. At Microsoft, we’re committed to empowering every individual and organisation to accomplish more. This includes building inclusively and promoting accessibility as a fundamental right, which is why we’re proud to support the launch of AI Amplified with Year 13 and KPMG, to help every young Australian to thrive in the AI era,” said Microsoft general manager, Corporate External and Legal Affairs, John Galligan.
