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Speaker 1: Every single one of us is familiar with the classroom.

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Speaker 1: This is where so many of us learn the basics

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Speaker 1: of reading, writing, and arithmetic, And no matter where you live,

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Speaker 1: the classroom is where so many of us first learn

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Speaker 1: the skills that we need to eventually join the workforce

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Speaker 1: and begin our careers. But this isn't just any classroom.

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Speaker 1: This is a classroom focused on the future and the

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Speaker 1: AI revolution that will create ninety seven million new jobs

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Speaker 1: by twenty twenty five and potentially deliver additional global economic

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Speaker 1: activity of around thirteen trillion by twenty thirty. This is

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Speaker 1: the classroom where teachers are equipping the future workforce with

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Speaker 1: a technical confidence to learn and apply AI skills and

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Speaker 1: shape the future. But who will fill these ninety seven

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Speaker 1: million jobs. According to the twenty twenty three Tech Report,

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Speaker 1: approximately sixty three percent of employees in the the US

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Speaker 1: tech sector are white. Estimates suggests that only twenty five

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Speaker 1: percent of tech jobs are held by women, with even

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Speaker 1: lower numbers for Black, Latina and Native American women at

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Speaker 1: around five percent. With these stats in mind, how can

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Speaker 1: we create new opportunities in tech for underrepresented populations, ultimately

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Speaker 1: creating a more diverse pool of talent in the industry,

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Speaker 1: how much work has to be done to close the

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Speaker 1: AI skills gap for our future workers, and which teachers

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Speaker 1: have been entrusted with this critical mission. Welcome to Technically Speaking,

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Speaker 1: an Intel podcast produced by iHeartMedia's Ruby Studio in partnership

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Speaker 1: with Intel. In every episode, we explore how AI innovations

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Speaker 1: are changing the world and revolutionizing the way we live. Hey,

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Speaker 1: then I'm your host Graham. Class for the seventh episode

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Speaker 1: of this season on Technically Speaking, We're headed back to school,

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Speaker 1: but it very likely doesn't resemble your typical university lecture hall.

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Speaker 1: This classroom is focused on teaching students some of the

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Speaker 1: most sought after skills in the emerging job landscape, artificial intelligence.

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Speaker 1: In this episode, we will focus on their current AI

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Speaker 1: skill crisis, and while Intel is partnering with Dell for

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Speaker 1: the AI for the Future Workforce program, will also examine

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Speaker 1: how students enrolled in this program at a Texas community

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Speaker 1: college are grasping onto this opportunity with both hands and

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Speaker 1: embracing AI technology in the workplace. Before we go any further,

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Speaker 1: let's welcome our guest who's leading this charge. Joining us

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Speaker 1: today is doctor Madeline Burilla. Hopkins the Vice Chancellor of

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Speaker 1: Workforce Instruction and the President of Southwest College at Houston

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Speaker 1: Community College in Texas. Doctor Buruillo Hopkins is responsible for

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Speaker 1: the strategic vision and administrative leadership of workforce instruction for

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Speaker 1: the district, and as president at Houston Community Southwest College,

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Speaker 1: she oversees all operations at HDC's Southwest campuses, including the

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Speaker 1: Center of Excellence in Digital and Information Technology. Welcome to

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Speaker 1: the show, Madeline.

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Speaker 2: Thank you Graham. What a pleasure to be here this morning,

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Speaker 2: and I'm very appreciative of the opportunity to share with

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Speaker 2: you and the listeners a little bit more about what

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Speaker 2: we're doing at Houston Community College.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting because in our first season we did

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Speaker 1: talk a little bit about how we can upskill students

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Speaker 1: to be ready for the future trends in AI. But

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Speaker 1: I'd like to get a little bit of a sense

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Speaker 1: of your background. You've always been an advocate for workforce education,

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Speaker 1: but I'd like to get a definition of what workforce

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Speaker 1: instruction is and what does the term mean to you

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Speaker 1: and others who work in your field.

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Speaker 2: So workforce instruction for me, is really at the core

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Speaker 2: of what we do at Community colleges and the sense

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Speaker 2: of we are at the inter section of people looking

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Speaker 2: for educational opportunities that would allow them to have the

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Speaker 2: highest return on the investment of their time as well

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Speaker 2: as their economic resources to pay for that education. And

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Speaker 2: the other intersection is especially right now employers seeking highly

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Speaker 2: qualified people, especially for emerging jobs and careers. And we

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Speaker 2: all know about the fact now it's been labeled as

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Speaker 2: the AI era, these are actually exciting times to be living.

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Speaker 2: I used to say as an economics major, what would

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Speaker 2: have been like to live in the times of industrial

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Speaker 2: revolution and change? And I do feel like we're living

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Speaker 2: in that same time frame in terms of how people

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Speaker 2: are experiencing AI and how it's impacting the world around us.

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Speaker 2: So workforce education is anything that will allow people to

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Speaker 2: be able to have a better life through the power

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Speaker 2: them to sustain their families and have upper economic mobility.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, as you're talking about that, I was reminded back

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Speaker 1: to my own experience where I just came into the

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Speaker 1: workforce just as the Internet was taking off, and I

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Speaker 1: had to reschool myself to be able to take advantage

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Speaker 1: of that, and I'd like to get a better sense

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Speaker 1: of the Houston Community College where you work, and I'd

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Speaker 1: like to get a sense of what the typical student

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Speaker 1: is like and what their general career aspirations are and

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Speaker 1: the reasons why they're studying there.

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Speaker 2: Well, Houston is the fourth largest metropolitan city in the country,

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Speaker 2: and it's been labeled the most diversified city in terms

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Speaker 2: of the demographics, and our student population reflects that of

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Speaker 2: the city that we operate in, and we're very proud

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Speaker 2: of that diversity. So about thirty five percent of our

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Speaker 2: students are Hispanic, another twenty nine percent are African American,

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Speaker 2: about twenty percent our Ations, and about seventeen percent wide

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Speaker 2: and so it's a very good place where you can

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Speaker 2: see what the world looks like today. In terms of diversity.

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Speaker 2: We do have, as an urban college, a large number

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Speaker 2: of students that are low social economic and who are

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Speaker 2: first generation college students, and we take that very very seriously,

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Speaker 2: and for me it's personal. I'm a first college generation

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Speaker 2: graduate in my family, daughter of immigrant and an immigrant,

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Speaker 2: and so I have lived and I'm an example of

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Speaker 2: the power of education to transform lives, and so our

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Speaker 2: students come to us exactly with that need and aspiration

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Speaker 2: to be a to obtain an education at HCC that

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Speaker 2: would allow them to change their lives and the generations

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Speaker 2: after them.

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Speaker 1: Houston Community College serves roughly eighty thousand students a year,

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Speaker 1: spread over six regional locations, all attending the school from

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Speaker 1: a variety of different backgrounds. The average age is roughly

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Speaker 1: twenty five years old, and three quarters of the students

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Speaker 1: are also working while they attend classes. HCC has thirteen

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Speaker 1: educational centers focusing on various industries such as healthcare, energy,

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Speaker 1: advanced manufacturing, and digital information technology. But I wanted to

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Speaker 1: know about the school's outlook on AI, how the students

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Speaker 1: are feeling about the rise of this new technology and

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Speaker 1: how it will affect their future.

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Speaker 2: So you ask how do they feel. They're not fearful.

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Speaker 2: Usually the older individuals are more fearful, all about Oh,

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Speaker 2: it's going to do away with my job or you know,

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Speaker 2: how's my career is going to change. The students walk

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Speaker 2: into that AI lab and they are curious, they're engaged,

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Speaker 2: they want to learn more. What you see in their

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Speaker 2: eyes is awakening of the things that they can do

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Speaker 2: with these tools and that they can be what I

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Speaker 2: call them they're the next game changers. They're embracing AI

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Speaker 2: and they are excited about the fact that they're the

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Speaker 2: next creators, that their ideas can come to live with

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Speaker 2: these tools, and that they at Houston Community College, that

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Speaker 2: they have a place where they not only can do

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Speaker 2: that they can learn the skills, and that they can

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Speaker 2: get a credential, and that they can compete for these

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Speaker 2: new emerging jobs.

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Speaker 1: With this collaboration space and the students getting together, I

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Speaker 1: think the examples in your mind that stick out that

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Speaker 1: really go oh wow, like I can't believe they've come

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Speaker 1: up with that.

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Speaker 2: Yes, So you know, I have to say I'm so

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Speaker 2: thankful to Intail and all because we would not be

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Speaker 2: able to have a faculty that's trained and prepared to

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Speaker 2: provide these tools to our students. Right. So, Intel's AI

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Speaker 2: for Workforce program has been so critical for us as

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Speaker 2: well as some of our other tech partners. But an

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Speaker 2: example one of our students right now that is entering

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Speaker 2: the competition, it's using AI how to identify cancer cells

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Speaker 2: at different stages by looking at the cancer cells at

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Speaker 2: their stage one, two, three, or four, and how to

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Speaker 2: do that at a much earlier stage of diagnosis. So

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Speaker 2: when I think about students actually looking at healthcare, I

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Speaker 2: just think of the possibilities and the things that we're

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Speaker 2: equipping our students with a capacity to create solutions for

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Speaker 2: the future that are going to benefit humanity. And I'm

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Speaker 2: excited and humble by the fact that we're able to

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Speaker 2: be in a place that we're allowing that to happen.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and also I was just wondering what your thoughts

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Speaker 1: around what are those skills gaps that need to be

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Speaker 1: filled so that students can confidently go into not necessarily

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Speaker 1: an AI tech job, but an existing job, but you're

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Speaker 1: able to use those AI skills to enhance their productivity.

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Speaker 2: Well, technology skills are always very useful, but at the

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Speaker 2: end of the day, it comes about people working together

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Speaker 2: and working together. Well, So I do see AI allowing

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Speaker 2: us to be able to bring people from different perspectives

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Speaker 2: into teams and learning how to work together towards a

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Speaker 2: problem solution. And that is what employers are seeking today,

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Speaker 2: no matter in what sector you're in, the ability to

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Speaker 2: articulate also what the problem is and what are we

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Speaker 2: trying to solve. And I think about like prompting engine

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Speaker 2: and somebody said, oh, well, AI is going to do everything,

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Speaker 2: and it's going to replace people. At the end of

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Speaker 2: the day. Starts with somebody's thoughts and ideas that have

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Speaker 2: to be articulated properly to the AI tool to be

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Speaker 2: able to give you the outcome that you're seeking. I

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Speaker 2: see AI also as a catalyst that will help our

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Speaker 2: students learn how to communicate more effectively because they have

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Speaker 2: to learn the skill of prompt engineering, which requires them

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Speaker 2: to articulate thoughts in a concise and clear way. And

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Speaker 2: so to me, these are all what employers call soft

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Speaker 2: skills that for years. I've been in workforce for a

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Speaker 2: long time, workforce development, and those are things that always

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Speaker 2: come up. And I see AI allowing us to do

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Speaker 2: that becoming more efficient, but allowing the people to use

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Speaker 2: their thoughts and their human intelligence to be magnified and

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Speaker 2: to be better used for more strategic thinks and problem

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Speaker 2: solving than the routine tasks or tasks that require high

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Speaker 2: computing levels that we couldn't do before. But at the

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Speaker 2: end of the day, you still need a creative thought

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Speaker 2: from an individual, from a person to have that computer

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Speaker 2: that robot be able to give you the outcome that

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Speaker 2: you're seeking.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it's really an exciting time because

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Speaker 1: you might have a creative thought and use your imagination,

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Speaker 1: but then you might get discouraged and say, oh, there's

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Speaker 1: so much work and I have to do this, this,

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Speaker 1: and this. I've just been creating an app using AI copilots,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think I would have even embarked on

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Speaker 1: it if I didn't have this assistant with me to

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Speaker 1: help me along the way. So I just think that

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Speaker 1: there'll be more of that human creativity being able to

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Speaker 1: get to the market or just get out into the

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Speaker 1: world because of these.

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Speaker 2: Tools, because AI will allow them to do that. But

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Speaker 2: these are all things that we're facing in a few

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Speaker 2: and I am so glad that we get to Our

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Speaker 2: students at Houston Community Colleges are going to be part

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Speaker 2: of that economy. They're very part of the economy because

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Speaker 2: they're being hired before they leave. People want them. All

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Speaker 2: of the tech companies are realizing that in order to

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Speaker 2: maximize the power of AI, particularly for the US, that

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Speaker 2: they all need to come together and help build that

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Speaker 2: next workforce. Everybody is going to need to be upskilled

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Speaker 2: and reskill and learn to use AI in their daily work.

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Speaker 2: In this twenty first century. If we don't do this,

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Speaker 2: we're going to have a huge digital divide. And for

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Speaker 2: small businesses and medium sized businesses, this can be a

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Speaker 2: game changer for them.

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Speaker 1: Coming up next on Technically Speaking and Intel podcast.

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Speaker 2: We've had students that walk down the hallway and see

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Speaker 2: the AI lab and they get curious as they can.

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Speaker 2: I come in there and we tell them and they

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Speaker 2: changed their majors.

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Speaker 1: We'll be right back after a brief message from our

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Speaker 1: partners at Intel. Welcome back to Technically Speaking, an Intel podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm here now with doctor Madeline Burillo Hopkins. I just

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Speaker 1: wanted to go to the start and the genesis of

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Speaker 1: the AAR for the Future Workforce program. I read that

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Speaker 1: Dell and Intel collaborated with the American Association of Community

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Speaker 1: Colleges back in twenty twenty. How did that program actually

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Speaker 1: come on to your radar and how did that actually start?

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Speaker 2: Well in twenty seventeen at HCC our faculty, even though

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Speaker 2: people thought we were crazy, we saw what was coming.

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Speaker 2: Everybody was using assistance and as a center of excellenc

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Speaker 2: question was what does that mean? And we saw the

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Speaker 2: trends for AI growing and really we saw, so to speak,

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Speaker 2: the x poond intial applications of AI for the future,

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Speaker 2: and then we have a very strong cybersecurity program at HCC,

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Speaker 2: so we immediately saw the connection and we decided we

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Speaker 2: were going to launch one. It just happened that we

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Speaker 2: had all the plans and everything ready to launch in

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Speaker 2: fall of twenty twenty. Because it takes a couple of

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Speaker 2: years to launch a program and hire ed so our

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Speaker 2: faculty had to get equipped to do the curriculum. So

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Speaker 2: one of the things we did was where can we

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Speaker 2: get the curriculum to teach AI? And so we started

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Speaker 2: reaching out. We figure out, well, the companies are doing this,

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Speaker 2: so let's reach out to different companies that are training

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Speaker 2: their staff. They have to have training materials, and somebody

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Speaker 2: I knew told me Intel has a program that they're

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Speaker 2: starting in Arizona with Maricopa, So I reached out told

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Speaker 2: them what we were doing in Texas. So Intel provided

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Speaker 2: book camps for our faculty in computer science to be

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Speaker 2: equipped to teach AI skills, and so between their support,

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Speaker 2: our faculty was really prepared to utilize that curriculum integrated

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Speaker 2: into our associate's degree. So we launched a program and

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Speaker 2: follow twenty twenty with Intel support and there, and since

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Speaker 2: then they have been side by side with ACC and

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Speaker 2: everything that we do. We have a fabulous AI lab

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Speaker 2: that we've been very fortunate to have Pat Gelsinger visitors

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Speaker 2: their CEO, and I'm proud to say also that he's

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Speaker 2: an ALUMNIICCCUS. He got an honorary degree from ACC because

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Speaker 2: our students won the global competition in twenty twenty two

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Speaker 2: and he came to see what was happening in this

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Speaker 2: little community college. Intel has been providing the same type

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Speaker 2: of professional development to build the capacity to teach these

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Speaker 2: programs across the US.

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Speaker 1: So how many students go through that AI for Future Workforce.

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Speaker 2: Program at Houston Community College? We started with forty students.

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Speaker 2: Today we have almost five hundred students, and we have

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Speaker 2: also launched a bachelor's degree in Applied Technology in AI

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Speaker 2: and Robotics, the first in the country by a community college.

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Speaker 2: So it's grown exponentially, and we've had students that walk

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Speaker 2: down the hallway and see the AI lab and they

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Speaker 2: get curious as they can I come in there and

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Speaker 2: we tell them and they change their majors. Then they

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Speaker 2: tell other friends, family members, So it's been an exciting

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Speaker 2: pathway to see the growth. We just want more community

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Speaker 2: colleges in the country to do this. Our purpose would

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Speaker 2: be to help other colleges launch these degree programs across

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Speaker 2: the US, and obviously with Intel support and our other

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Speaker 2: tech companies support, Deal and Intail among them.

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Speaker 1: And you talked a little bit about how students were

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Speaker 1: able to get jobs really quickly after they've completed their coursework.

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Speaker 1: Can you give me some examples of the type of

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Speaker 1: industries the type of jobs that students have been able

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Speaker 1: to get as a result of this program.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so I have a list of examples. This is

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Speaker 2: not inclusive of all of them, but I can tell

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Speaker 2: you two of our students were recruited by Tesla. We

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Speaker 2: have another student that went to work for our local

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Speaker 2: pharmaceutical company here in the Houston area. We got a

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Speaker 2: couple of folks that are working with some in technology companies.

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Speaker 2: One student is working for a geo scanning company. We

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Speaker 2: have three students that have interesting enough gone to work

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Speaker 2: for ced AI, and then we have had forced students

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Speaker 2: go to become NASA scholars after they left. And we

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Speaker 2: have a large number of students that are trying entering

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Speaker 2: into our bachelors of apply technology because it didn't exist

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Speaker 2: before and it doesn't exist anywhere in Texas.

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Speaker 1: You heard doctor Brilla Hopkins mentioned earlier that a number

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Speaker 1: of students at the AI for Future Workforce Program at

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Speaker 1: Houston Community College are being hired as soon as they

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Speaker 1: complete the program or they have jobs lined up even

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Speaker 1: before they graduate. These success stories come from a wide

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Speaker 1: range of industries like jobs in electric vehicles, pharmaceuticals, global

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Speaker 1: management and consulting, geotechnical scanning, AI, public policy, and even

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Speaker 1: space aeronautics, just to name a few. But what's still

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Speaker 1: paramount to the team at the AI for Future Workforce

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Speaker 1: Program at HCC is that this pathway to success remains

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Speaker 1: accessible to all, regardless of the student's race, gender, or

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Speaker 1: socioeconomic status.

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Speaker 2: So I mentioned earlier, the demographics of our college in

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Speaker 2: general and our demographics of our programs are pretty similar.

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Speaker 2: What I'm also very hopeful is that I see a

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Speaker 2: lot of women going in the deck field, which we've

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Speaker 2: had a huge gap in females participation in the technology industry,

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Speaker 2: and about thirty percent of our students in the program

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Speaker 2: are females. So I know that we're making a difference

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Speaker 2: by providing that accents. This year, we're doing summer camps

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Speaker 2: that include AI skill sets for our middle school and

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Speaker 2: high school students. We're also creating pathways of what we

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Speaker 2: call here in Texas dual credit programming that allows a

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Speaker 2: student in high school when they're the last few years,

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Speaker 2: complete a high school diploma and also an associates degree

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Speaker 2: at the same time. So I talked about fourteen thousand

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Speaker 2: for an Ambassador's degree. If they take dual ready classes

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Speaker 2: and complete their associates degree while they're in high school,

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Speaker 2: cut that in half because that's half of the program

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Speaker 2: already done, already done, and then they graduate a lot sooner,

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Speaker 2: and that means that they're going to enter the workforce

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Speaker 2: a lot sooner. So their lifelong earnings will be a

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Speaker 2: lot higher because they're going to enter a high demand

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Speaker 2: field that's relevant, that has high wages, and their careers

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Speaker 2: long term earnings will actually be I think that they'll

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Speaker 2: be double.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm a parent of teenagers myself. My oldest daughter

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Speaker 1: is going through that decision making process of what subjects

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Speaker 1: to choose and all of that. I'm sure many of

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Speaker 1: our listeners have teenagers going through that exact same thing.

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Speaker 1: I like to know if you've got any tips to

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Speaker 1: parents to help them guide their children in this crucial

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Speaker 1: time of almost like feeling like you're deciding your whole life.

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Speaker 2: Listen, my youngest daughter went through that whole process not

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Speaker 2: too long ago, right, So what do I tell parents?

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Speaker 2: Look for learning experiences that your local community colleges all offer,

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Speaker 2: especially anything on STEM related opportunities. Call look what your

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Speaker 2: local community college has. Many of times these programs are

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Speaker 2: free of charge because it's part of the mission of

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Speaker 2: the colleges. As a parent, as your school principle and

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Speaker 2: your superintendents, what are you all doing about AI education

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Speaker 2: at our schools? Our kids need to learn this, So

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Speaker 2: become an advocate for your own children, right, Provide experiences

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Speaker 2: for them to explore in a safe environment, which is

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Speaker 2: your schools. Find ways to get your kids to learn

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Speaker 2: the new technology. It's impacting their life and it's going

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Speaker 2: to be a must for them to be proficient, to

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Speaker 2: be able to be successful and to have careers with

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Speaker 2: livable wages in the future. So that's what I would

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Speaker 2: say to the parents that are listening.

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Speaker 1: Excellent, and in terms of the II for the Future

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Speaker 1: Workforce program, if other college professors and administrators are listening

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Speaker 1: to this, how can they get involved in that program?

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Speaker 2: Well, I would say contact your local INTEL regional contact.

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Speaker 2: But if they want to Houston Community College, a Miami

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Speaker 2: Dade at Mary Coopa College, all three of us are

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Speaker 2: committed to helping other colleges, and they can also contact

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Speaker 2: the American Association of Community Colleges the Workforce Division, and

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Speaker 2: they will put them in contact with those like myself

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Speaker 2: and others that are leading this pathway of building the

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Speaker 2: next workforce of the twenty five century in the AI era.

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Speaker 2: So just reach out, reach out to an AACC or

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Speaker 2: to us at Houston Community College or the other two colleges.

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Speaker 2: We'll be happy to help them through this process.

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Speaker 1: Excellent. Thank you so much for joining us today.

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Speaker 2: Oh, thank you Graham, it's been a pleasure.

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Speaker 1: Thank you to doctor Madeleine Barilla Hopkins for her expertise

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Speaker 1: in today's episode of Technically Speaking for our regular listeners.

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Speaker 1: In season one, episode seven, we discussed the importance of

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Speaker 1: upskilling workers to take advantage of the AI explosion we

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Speaker 1: are all now witnessing. So it was a real pleasure

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Speaker 1: to talk with Madeline about the tangible strides Houston Community

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Speaker 1: College has taken to provide those crucial AI skills for students.

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Speaker 1: I could sense the pride Madeline has in providing these

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Speaker 1: opportunities to students from all backgrounds to enjoy the benefits

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Speaker 1: of this exciting technology. In particular, I love the fact

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Speaker 1: that she was willing to promote other colleges trying to

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Speaker 1: achieve a similar mission and to be a model for

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Speaker 1: other institutions to emulate. I believe that AI skills such

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Speaker 1: as prompt engineering, and as strange as it may sound,

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Speaker 1: be able to communicate properly with AI agents, it will

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Speaker 1: set you apart from others and enable you to focus

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Speaker 1: on true creativity and innovation. I think the students and

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Speaker 1: teachers of AI programs at institutions like Houston Community College

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Speaker 1: will truly help bring AI everywhere. Next time, on our

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Speaker 1: final episode of season two, we're bringing home the gold

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Speaker 1: Medal as we look at how AI will help change

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Speaker 1: our experience of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. So join

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Speaker 1: us on July sixteenth for this very special episode of

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Speaker 1: Technically Speaking and Intel podcast. Technically Speaking was produced by

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Speaker 1: a Ruby Studio from iHeartRadio in partnership with Intel and

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Speaker 1: hosted by me Graham class. My executive producer is Molly Sosher,

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Speaker 1: our EP of Post Production is James Foster, and our

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Speaker 1: supervising producer is Nika Swinton. This episode was edited by

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Speaker 1: Sierra Spreen and written by Nick Firschel