A Microsoft initiative seeks to inspire women to work on technological projects related to artificial intelligence (AI). The young women spent a weekend in San Francisco and Seattle to solve creative problems through the power of artificial intelligence. The two events were part of an AI summer camp program organized by Microsoft.
This program started in 2018 in Athens. Since then, the technology company has expanded its reach with summits in London at the end of the same year and in New York in 2019. In the video, a compilation of the three events in the United States is shown.
“I was impressed not only by the willingness of these young women to spend a whole weekend to learn and adopt this opportunity but also for the quality of the projects,” said Didem Un Ates, one of the program organizers and director for AI within Microsoft. “It’s only two days, but what comes to mind always leaves us with our mouths open.”
Despite their age, the girls worked on projects with global impact that seek to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are considered the most complicated and highest priority for the world. As a result of these weekend projects, dozens of innovative products were presented.
The initiative of these young women can solve problems as diverse as ocean pollution, nutritional needs, mental health, acne, and climate change.
At the events in the United States, 129 girls attended who now want to pursue careers that help solve those problems. Now they see themselves as “Alice,” a pet created by the project team to represent the qualities that young women possess that lend themselves to changing the world through AI.
The organizers plan to expand the scope of these events. They aim to motivate young women from all over the world, so they can learn about the possibilities they have of pursuing careers in technology.