From TikTok Recommendations to New Trends, The Mark Cuban Foundation Aims to Teach Students About AI

The charitable foundation of Dallas Mavericks owner and serial entrepreneur Mark Cuban—is teaming up with local tech firms to launch its free AI Bootcamps for high school students across North Texas and beyond.

“These young leaders can now participate in the conversation around how AI should be developed and used,” Cuban has said. “We’re giving them a seat at the table.”

Applications are now open.

The Mark Cuban Foundation aims to create the next batch of up-and-coming technologists by introducing students to artificial intelligence.

For the fourth year in a row, the organization—the private charitable foundation of Dallas Mavericks owner and serial entrepreneur Mark Cuban—is teaming up with local tech firms to launch its no-cost AI Bootcamps for high school students across North Texas and beyond.

“AI is increasingly assisting and even automating decision-making in all aspects of society,” Cuban previously said of the bootcamps.

Four bootcamps taking place in DFW

Through the no-cost bootcamps, students in grades nine through 12 will learn about what AI is, how they already interact with it, and the ethical implications of the technology via things they’re already likely familiar with, including TikTok recommendations, self-driving cars, and facial recognition software. Throughout the four-week course, attendees will work on building their own AI applications in areas like computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing.

The Mark Cuban Foundation provides all of the program’s curriculum materials, trains volunteers, recruits local students, and coordinates the events. This year, the foundation is teaming up with local partners Headstorm, Perficient, Elevate, and ABLe Communications in conjunction with UT Dallas. It will host bootcamps this fall in Addison, Plano, Fort Worth, and Grand Prairie—four of the 30 locations across the country that will host AI bootcamps, with the goal of reaching 1,000 students.

The no-cost Saturday bootcamps are targeted to high school students and will introduce underserved students in grades 9 through 12 to basic AI concepts and skills.

Classes kick off in October

Cuban is a personal investor in over 25 AI startups and has been a proponent of national-scale investment in AI and technology education, according to a statement. He founded the Mark Cuban Foundation in 2003 and created the AI Bootcamps Initiative in 2019.

For those interested in the no-cost bootcamps, the deadline to apply is September 1, with four consecutive Saturday classes kicking off on October 22. With no prior experience needed in computer science or programming, attendees in North Texas will join others in locations like Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Detroit.

“These young leaders can now participate in the conversation around how AI should be developed and used,” Cuban previously said. “We’re giving them a seat at the table.”

To learn more or sign up, go here.