Intro to AI Elective in Alabama High Schools

0:00It's April 7. This is Birmingham News Today, powered by AI. Alabama High Schools are rolling out a new elective this fall called Intro to AI, aimed at teaching kids how the tech really works, spots wear it, messes up, and weighs to handle it right. It's popping up in spots across the state to get students ready for a world full of this stuff. The curriculum got built from scratch by folks at the Alabama School of Cybertechnology and Engineering, teaming up with the state education, departments since no ready-made lessons existed. They made it simple, so any teacher can jump in without being an AI whiz, focusing on what's happening under the hood instead of blind trust. And instructor Mary Claire Wright leased the charge, with student Emory Wilkinson pitching in from a kid's viewpoint, even helping craft a website for lesson plans. They worked remotely, tweaking things through notes to keep it clear and real, touching on stuff like AI's big energy drain too. A few schools like Heart Cell, Silicogga's Career Tech Center, Deschler and Colman County

1:02are already testing it out, mixing it into classes, and sending back feedback to polish the whole thing. It guides teachers on academic honesty, like when to unplug for real writing. This setup hits writing class's hardest, shaking up humanities like calculators did for math back in the day. But now everyone's evolving together for, smarter, safer AI use down the line.