Overview

The Artificial Intelligence Incubator Network was launched in 2022 to design and build Artificial Intelligence (AI) Incubators across the U.S., drawing on the expertise and industry-connections of the nation’s community and technical college system. The Network is managed by American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) with funding from Dell Technologies and Intel for an 18-month period.

AI Incubators —physical and virtual —are enabling community and technical colleges to play a major role in helping to train the workforce with AI skills.  Approaches include learning from peers through the network, developing and strategizing how to incorporate AI learning content into courses and learning pathways.

Participating colleges participate in national dialogue about AI developments and have access to a set of coordinated resources including:

• Monthly discussions led by AACC in one of three cohorts:
  • Cohort A: Colleges seeking to design and build an AI Incubator as a physical laboratory on the campus
  • Cohort B: Colleges seeking to design and build an AI Incubator in a virtual platform
  • Cohort C: Colleges seeking to design and build a hybridized AI Incubator in both virtual and on-campus scenarios
• State-specific (or regional where appropriate) opportunities to connect with AACC on strategic economic development related to AI Incubators
• Strategies on student engagement into AI programming, and shared lessons about student projects between /  among colleges
• Best practices from the field of as identified by AACC, Intel, Dell, and other industry-relevant partners such as:
  • AI learning content, course exercises, instructional videos, data sets, authentic learning experiences, pre-packaged modules for courses, etc.
  • Pathways to credit and noncredit courses, certificates, associate degree programs, bachelor’s degree programs, course sequencing, etc.
  • Strategies for identifying the program delivery style best suited for campuses
  • Train-the-trainer faculty programs to prepare faculty to teach the AI content.

AI curricula include a range of topics including general literacy embedded in courses and programs, technical skills, machine learning, computer vision, and robotics.

Background

In 2022, the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University published a report on the “latent potential” of community and technical colleges in training the AI workforce of the future. The report analyzed data from 2020 and found that virtually no community and technical colleges awarded degrees or certificates in AI-specific fields. The landscape has shifted and there is now widespread recognition that community colleges are an important driver in training the workforce with AI skills.

References

https://www.aacc.nche.edu/programs/workforce-economic-development/artificial-intelligence-incubator-network/