MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Iridescent, a global engineering and technology education nonprofit, is working with Google on a unique educational initiative, aimed at exposing underrepresented youth to cutting-edge technologies. The Curiosity Machine AI Family Challenge will feature an integrated educational program, curriculum, and competitions to help students and their families understand core concepts of artificial intelligence. A key component is applying AI tools to solve real problems that matter to a community, by addressing issues such as organized recycling, communicating public safety emergencies, and aiding the homeless.

Through this challenge Iridescent aims to demystify artificial intelligence through hands-on design  challenges and family engagement events across the country. Google will support these events with volunteers and mentors using everyday materials – like rubber bands, paper cups and batteries – to teach underserved families about engineering and computational thinking.

“Over the next few years, artificial intelligence will change our economy and the way we work. It’s vital that we train parents and their children to adopt a new mindset – one of lifelong learning,” said Tara Chklovski, CEO and Founder, Iridescent. “We are excited to be working with Google – one of the leading experts on artificial intelligence – to help underserved families and communities engage with the most cutting-edge innovations.”

This initiative is supported by Google Senior Fellow, Jeff Dean, who has led over 1,000 deep learning projects through artificial intelligence that have fed into many of Google’s products over the past few years. “The world is changing at a rapid pace and as artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into our society, we want to make sure we are engaging everyone,” said Jeff Dean, Google Senior Fellow. “We want to use our resources and our expertise to educate and train children and families to be prepared for a high-tech future.”

The Curiosity Machine AI Family Challenge is live now and explanatory videos and supporting educational materials are available at Iridescent’s online platform. Moreover, the two-to-three year global initiative will expand in February at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Conference, with a workshop to engage AI researchers in developing curriculum. The online portal reaches about 1 million students, parents and educators annually.

Iridescent is a science, engineering, and technology education nonprofit organization that empowers underrepresented young people to become self-motivated learners, inventors, and leaders. Founded in 2006 by CEO Tara Chklovski, Iridescent has engaged more than 100,000 children, parents, mentors, and educators across 100+ countries in its two global programs: Technovation, the world’s largest global tech entrepreneurship program for girls, and Curiosity Machine, a unique, family engineering program. Iridescent has proudly trained more than,7000 engineers and scientists to develop design challenges and/or mentor students and families. In recognition of its pioneering work for collective impact in underserved communities, Iridescent received the prestigious 2015 Excellence in Mentoring award, a US2020 White House Initiative.

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SOURCE Iridescent