Atlanta HBCU Teams Up With IBM To Build AI Skills
Clark Atlanta University is partnering with IBM SkillsBuild to help aspiring developers build their AI skills competencies, providing the next generation of leaders with the necessary tools to thrive in the job market.
Addressing the AI skills gap
Generative AI has the potential to widen the racial economic gap in the United States by $43 billion each year, according to a study by McKinsey. Black workers are also increasingly overrepresented in four of the top five occupations at risk of automation: office support, production work, food services, and mechanical installation and repair.
Clark University and IBM’s initiative will tackle the skills gap, ensuring that Black students are not left behind in the workforce.
“By equipping our students with essential AI competencies, we not only prepare them for future opportunities but also ensure that the development of artificial intelligence reflects the broad range of perspectives of the communities it serves,” Dr. Charlene D. Gilbert, Provost and Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Clark Atlanta University, said in a press release.
What will students learn?
The core elements of this collaboration are faculty training and practical real-world learning opportunities through access to WatsonX (IBM’s portfolio of generative AI products) and Granite (IBM’s family of open-source large language models).
Clark Atlanta University professors will receive AI training and resources that can help them cultivate their students’ abilities. Outside of lessons, IBM is offering students a deeper dive into AI learning with interactive components through labs that are up to 90 minutes long.
Students can also participate in innovation challenges, like hackathons, and have the opportunity to work with IBM experts and their classroom professors to build innovative capstone projects over a semester.
“As we see the rise of more open-source AI models, it’s clear that the pace of transformation is not slowing down. The future of AI will be shaped by students, educators, and professionals who not only have the skills to use generative AI, but also to manage AI agents, or even build them,” Justina Nixon-Saintil, IBM VP and Chief Impact Officer, said.
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