Search for: All records

AI has entered the public consciousness through generative AI’s impact on work—enhancing efficiency and automating tasks—but it has also driven innovation in education and personalized learning. Still, while AI promises benefits, it also poses risks—from hallucinating false outputs to reinforcing biases and diminishing critical thinking. With the AI education market expected to grow substantially, ethical concerns about the technology’s misuse—AI tools have already falsely accused marginalized students of cheating—are mounting, highlighting the need for responsible creation and deployment. Addressing these challenges requires both technical literacy and critical engagement with AI’s societal impact. Expanding AI expertise must begin in K–12 and higher education in order to ensure that students are prepared to be responsible users and developers. AI education cannot exist in isolation—it must align with broader computer science (CS) education efforts. This chapter examines the global state of AI and CS education, access disparities, and policies shaping AI’s role in learning. This chapter was a collaboration prepared by the Kapor Foundation, CSTA, PIT-UN and the AI Index. The Kapor Foundation works at the intersection of racial equity and technology to build equitable and inclusive computing education pathways, advance tech policies that mitigate harms and promote equitable opportunity, and deploy capital to support responsible, ethical, and equitable tech solutions. The CSTA is a global membership organization that unites, supports, and empowers educators to enhance the quality, accessibility, and inclusivity of computer science education. The Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) fosters collaboration between universities and colleges to build the PIT field and nurture a new generation of civic-minded technologists. 

The recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have captivated the attention of many while raising the alarm among activists and policymakers. Although AI has its benefits, it has simultaneously contributed to increased polarization, the proliferation of mis/disinformation, online safety and privacy concerns, exacerbated mental health challenges, and questions about the ethical use of these technologies. The disproportionate influence of AI biases on Black, Latine, and Native communities and the continued exclusion of these communities from computing requires the adoption of new K-12 educational policies to ensure equitable access to AI education and equip students to be responsible and competent creators of technologies. 

Efforts to broaden participation in computing address how systemic school structures, educator preparation, and curriculum can provide inclusive learning spaces for all students. The emerging multiplicity of scholarship in computer science (CS) education forwards diverse voices, perspectives, and positionalities, and together, provide a rich set of evidence-based narratives that can transform K-12 policies and practices. The four projects featured in this panel bring together CS education efforts with varying methodologies focused on equity-oriented pedagogies and learning for all youth across the US. This panel will focus not only on sharing the multi-pronged efforts of the featured projects, but also on developing a shared vision among participants and panelists for what equity" can and should be in the future of both SIGCSE and CS education as we celebrate SIGCSE's 50th anniversary. By highlighting the work of projects rather than individuals in this panel, audience members will have the opportunity to learn about how collaborative efforts create and examine contexts for equity in CS education across diverse stakeholders, while also providing a richer base for constructing visions of equity that go beyond mere platitudes, toward action items for broadening participation in computing.