Neural Notes: Girl Geek Academy wants to bring AI to the classroom

Welcome back to Neural Notes, a weekly column where I look at some of the most interesting AI news of the week. In this edition: Girl Geek Academy gets a new CEO and unveils ambitious plans for its AI High program.

Founded in 2014, Girl Geek Academy has been a key player in the push to increase gender diversity in STEM, particularly in Australia.

It’s been known for initiatives such as (accidentally) running the world’s first all-women hackathon, Microsoft Mondays and running a plethora of programs and workshops over the past decade – with a mission to bring one million women into tech careers by 2025.

Girl Geek Academy is now facing a brand new chapter, with co-founder Lisy Kane stepping into the role of managing director. She is taking over the leadership from CEO Sarah Moran — who is also a co-founder of AI startup Patient Notes.

Punctuating this chapter is AI High – an initiative supported by The Telstra Foundation that is designed to address a critical gap in AI and general STEM fields.

“We’re at a point with technology where we’re about to have a big leap,” Kane said to SmartCompany.

According to Kane, AI and all of the big data associated with it is the next big shift. And that provides an opportunity to have more voices involved.

“If we keep repeating history — not having a diverse group of people at the table — it’s just going to happen again,” Kane said.

“We’ve already seen it with the whistleblowers at Google. People of colour calling out racism within the organisation and the programs and they’re getting booted out. For me and for Girl Geek Academy, that’s very scary.

“AI can be great, but it is being used for the reasons that we probably shouldn’t be using them.”

Kane recalls conversations with Moran about the issues already arising with AI, particularly with bias, and how something had to be done about it.

“Girl Geek Academy is very much driven by frustration and this is us acting on that frustration and trying to fix it.”

The why of AI High

A recent report from The Australian National University revealed a significant drop in student enrolment in information and computer technology (ICT) subjects in Years 11 and 12, which is leading to fewer students pursuing ICT in further education and professional careers.

This is a problem — not just for gender diversity in tech but the federal government’s goal of hitting 1.2 million Australian tech jobs by 2030.

The Tech Council of Australia echoed these concerns earlier this month, predicting 200,000 Australian AI jobs by 2030 — but only if significant focus is placed on education and upskilling.

“This drop in enrolment underscores the need for a sustainable, long-term program that can build a pipeline of young women and non-binary individuals entering the tech industry,” Kane said.

Unlike former programs run by Girl Geek Academy, the aim for AI High is to be integrated into high school curriculums as a permanent subject offering for years 10-12.

“A big thing we’re looking into is how to make this a long-term program, potentially an alternative offering for high schools to use. Many schools have to outsource their digital teachings in the schools,” Kane said to SmartCompany.

While AI High has a primary focus on growing the number of girls and non-binary students interested in ICT, Kane emphasised that the program is inclusive of all genders.

“If we’re building this from the perspective of a safe space for women and non-binary folks — it’s not going to be exclusive,” Kane said.

“At a lot of our events, men come because we have cupcakes and have really, really great time. It’s an alternative to what’s already out there.”

Early stages and building interest

Currently, AI High is in the co-design phase, with Girl Geek Academy asking for expressions of interest and actively collecting data to determine where to focus its efforts

“We’re trying to figure out where the biggest pain points are and which states we should focus on,” Kane said.

Implementing new subjects like AI into school curriculums presents several challenges, particularly due to varying state education requirements. Each state has its own set of standards and regulations, making a uniform approach impractical.

“We need to develop flexible modules that meet different state standards while also on top of that have that layer of community,” Kane said.

Beyond providing education, this community-building goal where students can connect, collaborate and feel supported is imperative to the organisation.

Kane discussed the success Girl Geek Academy had with this with its Microsoft Mondays initiative during Covid-19.

“Every Monday at 4pm, we would have a stream similar to Twitch, teaching skills like Python and AI programming. It was very bright and colorful, and it created a sense of community, especially during lockdown,” Kane said.

“We’re hoping to replicate that sense of community and engagement on a larger scale with AI High.”

The long-term vision for AI High is to create a pathway to university and beyond. Kane highlighted the importance of tracking the program’s success through a variety of metrics.

“Tracking impact throughout the program will be crucial to ensure we’re making a real difference. We would be looking to track things like enrolment into computer science, which has dropped over the years,” Kane said

“We want to see more women entering computer science and other STEM fields at university. And then obviously on top of that, with this digital jobs and future we want to see more women and girls entering the workforce.”

Girl Geek Academy is calling on principals, teachers, parents, and tech companies to support AI High. It is seeking expressions of interest from schools, principals, teachers and partners to help design the program, mentor students, and advocate for its integration into the educational system.

While the program already has backing from The Telstra Foundation, Girl Geek Academy is welcoming more investment to help get AI High off the ground.

“We can do really great things with a little amount of money. But the more we have obviously that means we can just execute faster and better,” Kane said.

Time is also a big consideration for funding, as the program would follow students over years.

“This is a long bar, those students will graduate and it’ll take them a while to get into the workforce. So the sooner we get it done the better — even at this stage would be 2028 before people get into the workforce potentially.”

Other AI news this week

Apparently, National Payroll Day is a thing that’s happening today. Aussie unicorn Employment Hero took the opportunity of this most blessed day to comment on the use of AI in the sector. “Payroll is ripe for AI and automation, with 81% [of payroll professionals] expecting a significant increase in its use over the next year. It’s positive to see this kind of support for beneficial technology that can improve day-to-day pains for employees,” Employment Hero general manager, Phil Bernie, told SmartCompany.
Microsoft is trying to eat Canva’s lunch with the official release of its new Designer app. Users can create images and other designs through text prompts, as well as ‘prompt templates.’ It sure does sound familiar…
OpenAI just announced GPT-4o Mini — a cheaper version of its AI model in an attempt to snag more developers and business customers.
Like Apple before it, Meta won’t be releasing its advanced AI model in the EU due to “unpredictable” regulators.