Student, Employer, and Faculty Perspectives on Building an AI-Ready Workforce
Artificial intelligence is changing the way people learn and work, raising important questions for colleges, employers, and communities. How should students be taught to use these tools? What skills will employers expect? And how can educators help students build the judgment they'll need alongside technical knowledge?
When educators, employers, students, and community leaders learn from one another, they can get closer to solving these challenges.
That's what brought more than 200 participants together at Jackson State Community College to share practical examples of how AI is already being used in classrooms and workplaces. Throughout the day, speakers demonstrated how preparing students for what's next depends on strong partnerships between education and industry.
Cameron Sublett presented research on Applied Co-Intelligence, alongside perspectives from healthcare, manufacturing, energy, cybersecurity, and higher education, including Madison County Mayor A.J. Massey, Greater Jackson Chamber CEO Kyle Spurgeon, and industry leaders from Toyota Boshoku, Jackson Energy Authority, and West Tennessee Healthcare. Students also took center stage, demonstrating projects from their own AI coursework.
The video below features perspectives from faculty, students, employers, local government, and workforce leaders as they discuss the opportunities and challenges AI presents.
Views photos from the AI Summit below, including student demonstrations, research presentations, and panel discussions with industry leaders.
To learn more, read a Q&A blog with Dr. Tom Pigg, a Perkins READI AI Fellow and Dean for the School of Business, Industry, and Technology at JSCC who helped organize the Summit.
The AI Summit was made possible through support from the Tennessee Board of Regents and ECMC Foundation, in partnership with ACTE, CTE Futures, and Advance CTE.