Young people need a “mission in AI [artificial intelligence] literacy” and far more access to extracurriculars that build soft skills if the future workforce is to be ready for AI. They also need adults in the room to mentor, volunteer and sponsor.
That was the call from TeenTech founder Maggie Philbin and two of the charity’s alumni at this week’s AWS Public Sector AI Symposium in London.
Philbin (pictured, left), a former presenter of the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World, founded TeenTech in 2008 to prepare young people for a future “we ourselves don’t fully understand”. She told delegates, “Do not ever underestimate the power that you have to change a young person’s thinking and a young person’s life.”
The skills gap is acute. Research quoted at the event showed 49% of UK organisations cite a skills shortage as their number one barrier to AI adoption, up from 46% last year.
Philbin pointed to the charity’s record. TeenTech runs festivals, company-site events and an award scheme where students develop their own prototypes. Last year, more than 1,700 students completed TeenTech award projects, and more than 1,000 of them were female.
Participation shifts how students see themselves, said Philbin. When they arrive, between 55% and 61% are interested in tech or engineering careers. After the programmes, she said they “not only can see that those opportunities are out there, they believe they could do them and would enjoy them”.
Philbin talked about a student called Charles as a case in point. He was always in detention, she said, and the TeenTech club happened to run in the same room, so a teacher said he might as well join. Mentored by the chief technology officer of Disney, he went on to win straight As at A-level, take a digital apprenticeship with Vodafone and earn a first-class degree.
The effects of promoting technical careers compounds, said Philbin. She pointed to one school in Scotland that reported a 300% increase in students taking STEM subjects and opened an engineering department as a result. Meanwhile, she cited a school in Telford that plans to run the programme across 8,000 students next year. More than 65% of students stay involved for five years or more.
Two alumni on stage closed the session. Miranda (pictured, centre) advocated for teaching AI as “a digital toolkit” rather than something young people “just think of … as a homework” tool. “We need a mission in AI literacy,” she said.
Safa (pictured, right), who switched from a law degree to product design engineering, called for reform. “What we need is for students in secondary school and college level to have more access to extracurriculars that will strengthen their soft skills,” she said. “I think we’d call for education system reform.”
Both women helped shape the Young Person’s Charter for Ethical Innovation, presented at the House of Lords and written, notes Philbin, “entirely in the students’ words”.
She ended with a direct call to action. “Every single person in this room, in some way, could be massively helpful,” said Philbin, urging local government to bring TeenTech to their areas and asking attendees to mentor, volunteer or sponsor.
