The groundbreaking technology of our era is artificial intelligence (AI). To unlock AI’s full potential in tackling the world’s most pressing challenges, it is imperative to make AI education accessible to all eager learners.
Amazon has introduced “Artificial Ready,” a global initiative aimed at providing free AI skills training to 2 million individuals by 2025. This initiative includes the launch of new programs for adults and youth, as well as the expansion of existing AI education initiatives, eliminating financial barriers to acquiring these essential skills.
The key components of this initiative are as follows:
- Introduction of eight new no-cost AI and conceptual AI courses
- Provision of a new generative AI course on Udacity, accessible to over 50,000 high school and university students globally through the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Generative AI Scholarship
- Collaboration with the nonprofit organization Code to support students in learning about AI
The demand for AI-proficient workers has never been higher. A recent study by AWS and Access Partnership highlighted the following key findings:
- 73% of employers prioritize hiring individuals with AI skills, yet three-quarters struggle to meet this demand.
- Businesses anticipate up to a 47% increase in salaries for employees upskilled in AI.
- 93% of companies plan to integrate AI solutions across their operations in the next five years, underscoring the growing importance of AI in business practices.
To empower individuals seeking to explore AI and capitalize on the vast opportunities it offers, Amazon is rolling out AI Ready, focusing on current and future workforce development.
Free Conceptual AI Education for In-Demand Roles
Amazon is introducing eight new complimentary AI and relational AI courses tailored to meet the needs of professionals in high-demand fields. These courses, catering to a wide audience from beginners to advanced learners, encompass business leaders and engineers alike. They complement the existing array of over 80 free and affordable AI and conceptual AI programs available through AWS.
Courses for Organizational and Non-Technical Audiences
- Introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence: This course provides an entry point to conceptual AI, its applications, and essential concepts like foundation models. It can be accessed on AWS Educate.
- Generative AI Learning Plan for Decision Makers: This three-course series guides learners on approaching conceptual AI projects and fostering AI-ready organizations. Available on AWS Skill Builder.
- Code Whisperer: Participants learn to utilize Amazon’s AI code generator to produce code snippets. Accessible on AWS Educate.
Courses Tailored for Professionals and Developers
- Prompt Engineering: Covers the basics of prompt engineering, input creation for generative AI tools, and cutting-edge prompt strategies. Find it on AWS Skill Builder.
- Low-Code Machine Learning on AWS: Explores machine learning model creation with minimal programming and machine learning experience. Available on AWS Skill Builder.
- Building Language Models on AWS: Demonstrates language model creation using Amazon SageMaker’s distributed training libraries and customization of open-source and base models. Accessible on AWS Skill Builder.
- Amazon Transcribe—Getting Started: An introduction to Amazon Transcribe, a fully managed AI service for speech-to-text conversion using automated speech recognition technology. Accessible on AWS Skill Builder.
- Building Generative AI Applications Using Amazon Bedrock: Guides learners on utilizing the platform to develop conceptual AI applications. Accessible on AWS Skill Builder.
$12 Million in Generative AI Scholarships
Through the AWS Generative AI Scholarship, over 50,000 students from underserved communities worldwide will receive scholarships totaling more than $12 million. The program aims to introduce students to fundamental conceptual AI concepts and provide hands-on experience, culminating in a certification from Edu to showcase their expertise to potential employers.
Hour of Code Dance Party: AI Edition
Amazon, in collaboration with Code and Amazon Future Engineer, is launching Hour of Code Dance Party: AI Edition. This initiative allows students to create their electronic music videos set to popular songs by artists like Miley Cyrus and Harry Styles. Participants will use emojis as AI prompts to design animated backgrounds, learning about big language models and generative AI in the process.
During Computer Science Education Week (December 4–10), students and educators from kindergarten to 12th grade worldwide can participate in Hour of Code. Additionally, Code stands to receive up to $8 million in AWS Cloud computing credits to support this initiative.
In addition to AWS’s commitment to offer free cloud computing skills training to 29 million individuals by 2025, a goal that has already benefited over 21 million people, Amazon is further investing in the AI Ready program.
