Chapter 7
AI Corps: A Vision for Spreading Artificial Intelligence Literacy to Every Classroom
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my time teaching entrepreneurship and creative thinking to high school students back in 2021, when I joined a program called NICE Corps. This initiative, created by the NICE Center at North Dakota State University, sent recent graduates to high schools across the state to teach students the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. The NICE Center itself was launched in 2019 with a clear mission: introduce entrepreneurial thinking into the curriculum and, in doing so, spark a shift in mindset not only across the campus but also throughout North Dakota.
When I applied for the program, I saw it as a chance to bring Silicon Valley-style thinking to students who might never have encountered these ideas otherwise. In rural communities, where traditional career paths tend to dominate, exposing kids to entrepreneurial skills can be a game changer. It opens up new ideas, new possibilities, and—perhaps most importantly—new pathways that they might not have considered before.
Today, I’ve been wondering: Could we do something similar with AI literacy? What if we could replicate the NICE Corps model to help young people understand and engage with artificial intelligence? Imagine a local university creating an "AI Corps," sending students into high school classrooms to teach the fundamentals of AI—not in an abstract, distant way, but in a way that connects directly to students’ lives and futures.
This kind of program could be transformative. It could demystify AI and show students that it’s not just some high-level technology for Silicon Valley but a tool they can use to shape their own futures. Students, particularly those in rural areas, need to see AI not as something inaccessible but as a powerful ally in their education and career development. With AI literacy, they could move into college equipped with skills that make them valuable in almost any industry.
And AI literacy goes beyond just career skills—it helps students navigate the world with more clarity. In a time where misinformation, amplified by AI, floods our social feeds and news sources, having the ability to discern what’s real from what’s generated will become a critical survival skill. As AI continues to embed itself in everyday life—through tools like Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, and even smart speakers—we’re starting to shift from simply giving machines commands to holding real conversations with them. And this conversational interface is just the beginning.
Teaching AI literacy now is essential because the world our students are stepping into is one where AI is going to define the landscape. Picture a high school student graduating in 2025. If they spend the next four years in college, they’ll be entering the workforce in 2029, which is around the time that thinkers like Ray Kurzweil predict we might see the emergence of artificial general intelligence (AGI). These students won’t just be stepping into a world shaped by AI—they’ll be the ones shaping it. They’ll be the creators, the optimizers, the innovators who define what AI-powered industries and societies look like.
This is why AI isn’t just another technological advancement; it’s the most transformative one we’ll experience in our lifetimes. It’s not just about making things more efficient or easier to manage—it’s about fundamentally changing the way we interact with the world around us. Imagine Bluetooth headphones that don’t just play music but run personal AI assistants locally or augmented reality glasses that let us see digital screens without holding any device. This level of technological advancement is within reach for today’s students if we give them the tools to navigate it.
We’re standing at the edge of a moment that will determine whether the digital divide widens or closes. If we don’t equip young people with AI literacy, the divide could turn into an intelligence gap that separates those who know how to harness the power of AI from those who are left behind, clinging to outdated ways of thinking and working. This isn’t just about having access to AI tools; it’s about understanding how to use them effectively, creatively, and ethically.
We need to make AI literacy a core part of every student’s education, whether they’re in rural towns or urban centers. Only then can we level the playing field and give the next generation the tools they need to shape their future—one defined not by the limitations of the past but by the intelligence they learn to wield.
AI is not just coming; it’s already here, woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. The question is not whether today’s students will use it but how prepared they’ll be to shape it. And that’s why teaching AI literacy is not just important—it’s urgent.