WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., April 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) will host a Mark Cuban Foundation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp for high school students at no cost for a 2nd time in the fall of 2023. The AI Bootcamp in West Palm Beach will be targeted at underserved high school students (9th -12th grade) and will introduce these high school students to basic AI concepts and skills.
FPL is one of 28+ host companies selected to host camps across the U.S. in fall 2023.
The FPL Bootcamp will be held over four consecutive Saturdays starting on Oct. 14 and ending on Nov. 4. The bootcamp will run each Saturday from 2-6 p.m. ET and if accepted, high school students must commit to attending all four sessions.
The student and parent application are now open at markcubanai.org/fplpr. Students interested should apply by Friday, Sept. 8. Students do not need any prior experience with computer science, programming, or robotics to apply and attend.
With AI being a relevant topic on many news sources, students will learn what artificial intelligence is and is not, where they already interact with AI in their own lives, and the ethical implications of AI systems including, but not limited to, TikTok recommendations, smart home assistants, facial recognition and self-driving cars. Participants will also learn how Large Language Models like ChatGPT are changing life as we know it by answering questions, telling original stories, and even writing computer code.
Students will benefit from volunteer corporate mentor instructors who are knowledgeable about AI, ML and data science and able to help students quickly understand material normally taught at a collegiate level. As part of the 4-hour curriculum, students will work with open source tools each day to build their own AI applications related to Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing and Generative AI.
The Mark Cuban Foundation provides the bootcamp’s curriculum materials, trains corporate volunteer mentors, and recruits and scores applications for local student selected to attend camp. In addition, the Mark Cuban Foundation and FPL work together to provide food, transportation and access to laptops for students at no cost throughout the duration of Bootcamp.
“It was a lot of fun, I learned things I didn't even know were possible with AI and their real-world applications showed me just how much it will change our world."
- Brandon B., 10th Grade, 2022 AI Bootcamp Participant
Founded by Mark Cuban in 2019, the AI Bootcamp initiative has hosted no-cost AI bootcamps for students across several U.S. cities, including Dallas, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Atlantic City. The Mark Cuban Foundation has impacted 900+ students to date and has a goal to increase that number year over year.
To see our 2023 camp locations and to learn more about the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamps, please visit markcubanai.org/faq .
Florida Power & Light Company
As America’s largest electric utility, Florida Power & Light Company serves more customers and sells more power than any other utility, providing clean, affordable, reliable electricity to approximately 5.8 million accounts, or more than 12 million people. FPL operates one of the most fuel efficient and cleanest power generation fleets in the U.S and in 2022 won the ReliabilityOne® National Reliability Award for the seventh time in the last eight years. The company was also recognized by Escalent in 2022 as one of the most trusted U.S. electric utilities for the ninth consecutive year. FPL is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE), a clean energy company widely recognized for its efforts in sustainability, corporate responsibility, ethics and compliance, and diversity. NextEra Energy is ranked No. 1 in the electric and gas utilities industry in Fortune’s 2023 list of “World’s Most Admired Companies” and recognized on Fortune’s 2021 list of companies that “Change the World.” NextEra Energy is also the parent company of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, which, together with its affiliated entities, is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun and a world leader in battery storage. For more information about NextEra Energy companies, visit these websites: www.NextEraEnergy.com, www.FPL.com, www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
Mark Cuban Foundation
The Mark Cuban Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private non-profit led by Dallas Mavericks proprietor Mark Cuban. The AI Bootcamps Program at MCF seeks to inspire young people with emerging technology so that they can create more equitable futures for themselves and their communities. Over four consecutive Saturdays, underserved 9th-12th grade students learn what AI is and isn’t, where they already interact with AI in their own lives, the ethical implications of AI systems, and much more. Learn more about our No-Cost Fall bootcamps at https://www.markcubanai.org/faq. Apply today at markcubanai.org/apply.
Contact: Carli Lidiak, Mark Cuban Foundation
Phone: 309-840-0348
Email: carli.lidiak@markcubanai.org
