{"id":88403,"topic":"ai","source":"GovTech","title":"Pa. Initiative Prompts Students to Build and Use AI Models - GovTech","url":"https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/pa-initiative-prompts-students-to-build-and-use-ai-models","url_hash":"30761475e286aeba0b0ab4a52d58061c3a9967de","author":"","summary":"Pa. Initiative Prompts Students to Build and Use AI Models GovTech","content":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.\nBut most importantly, he said, he understands the technology comes with dangers.\n\"Some use it to cheat, and do bad things. Others use it for good,\" Manno said during a student summit Friday at the AI Horizons event at the Bakery Square complex in Pittsburgh's East End. \"It's emerging technology. It's better to get ahead of the curve and learn it.\"\nAbout 150 teenagers from across the region were tasked to use AI models to create a mascot for the state. It's part of a broader initiative, Pennsylvania Creates, designed to help build and create AI models ethically.\nPennsylvania Creates is a joint project of organizations across education and tech: the nonprofit Remake Learning, industry booster group AI Strike Team, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.\nThe event comes as concerns mount over the pace of AI development, safety concerns and runaway AI use. A former Anthropic researcher made international headlines last week by declaring he worried AI would destroy humanity if the technology was not regulated.\n\"It can help get the public used to AI, and get away from the visions of the Terminator taking over the planet, and using AI in a good way,\" Manno said. \"I can see it misused with cyber attacks and security. You shouldn't fear the tool itself, but the people that have it.\"\nWhile growth, use and evolution of AI is inevitable, misuse of the technology is concerning, state Education Secretary Carrie Rowe told TribLive.\n\"For a long time, we've been using the phrases digital natives, digital literacy and digital citizenship. I don't think those go away,\" she said. \"I think the most impactful thing right now will be digital citizenship, not withholding the technology from the students but telling them there's a whole lot of this that people don't understand, and it's a multifacted issue.\"\nRowe said her department will be publishing AI-related guidelines for schools to consider. She anticipates those to be released by January.\nShe emphasized those guidelines will likely be the first of many as AI continues to evolve and become more understood by the general public.\n\"We've often used the phrase 'lifelong learner' in education, and that's never been more important than it is right now,\" Rowe said. \"Teachers can't bury their heads in the sand. Administrators can't say, 'I'm going to let the students figure it out,' or 'I'm going to let the teachers figure it out on their own.' We have to stay in communication with each other.\"\nIn Rowe's perspective, children should not be using chatbots for mental or physical health questions. She recommended caution on schools using AI for data security.\nAppropriate AI use, she said, would be allowing students to use the technology in safe, controlled environments.\n\"I think there's a whole lot of educating and training, of both kids and parents, to let them know what we perceive is safe right now, what safeguards we're putting out there, and maybe the things that we don't know,\" Rowe said. \"We have to be honest about it all.\"\nAugust Jones, an eighth grade student at Clairton, said AI has the potential to be a \"great help,\" but noted the technology's outputs always need to be reviewed. When her class reviewed information from AI for a project about the environment in Clairton, some of the information was incorrect, she said.\n\"We need to be careful with AI,\" said August, 13. \"I feel like, with AI, you should be a certain age to use it. AI is for work and to help with certain things in life.\"\nDaniel Ellis, her classmate, said AI should not be used to simply ask for answers.\n\"It's unique,\" said Daniel, 13. \"It's not been out in the world for long. I think it can be used for good. It can help you learn.\"\nRowe said student perspectives are crucial when designing future AI policies and uses.\n\"Young people are at the forefront of this, and they might feel like they're not ready to contribute in a meaningful way,\" she said. \"But I would make the argument that they already have a lot of the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are necessary to meaningfully contribute to this conversation.\"\n© 2026 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.). 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Initiative Prompts Students to Build and Use AI Models - GovTech","source_name":"GovTech","author":null,"published_at":"2026-09-22T19:45:21+00:00","locale":"en","topic":"ai","tags":[],"rss_summary":"Pa. Initiative Prompts Students to Build and Use AI Models GovTech","full_text":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.\nBut most importantly, he said, he understands the technology comes with dangers.\n\"Some use it to cheat, and do bad things. Others use it for good,\" Manno said during a student summit Friday at the AI Horizons event at the Bakery Square complex in Pittsburgh's East End. \"It's emerging technology. It's better to get ahead of the curve and learn it.\"\nAbout 150 teenagers from across the region were tasked to use AI models to create a mascot for the state. It's part of a broader initiative, Pennsylvania Creates, designed to help build and create AI models ethically.\nPennsylvania Creates is a joint project of organizations across education and tech: the nonprofit Remake Learning, industry booster group AI Strike Team, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.\nThe event comes as concerns mount over the pace of AI development, safety concerns and runaway AI use. A former Anthropic researcher made international headlines last week by declaring he worried AI would destroy humanity if the technology was not regulated.\n\"It can help get the public used to AI, and get away from the visions of the Terminator taking over the planet, and using AI in a good way,\" Manno said. \"I can see it misused with cyber attacks and security. You shouldn't fear the tool itself, but the people that have it.\"\nWhile growth, use and evolution of AI is inevitable, misuse of the technology is concerning, state Education Secretary Carrie Rowe told TribLive.\n\"For a long time, we've been using the phrases digital natives, digital literacy and digital citizenship. I don't think those go away,\" she said. \"I think the most impactful thing right now will be digital citizenship, not withholding the technology from the students but telling them there's a whole lot of this that people don't understand, and it's a multifacted issue.\"\nRowe said her department will be publishing AI-related guidelines for schools to consider. She anticipates those to be released by January.\nShe emphasized those guidelines will likely be the first of many as AI continues to evolve and become more understood by the general public.\n\"We've often used the phrase 'lifelong learner' in education, and that's never been more important than it is right now,\" Rowe said. \"Teachers can't bury their heads in the sand. Administrators can't say, 'I'm going to let the students figure it out,' or 'I'm going to let the teachers figure it out on their own.' We have to stay in communication with each other.\"\nIn Rowe's perspective, children should not be using chatbots for mental or physical health questions. She recommended caution on schools using AI for data security.\nAppropriate AI use, she said, would be allowing students to use the technology in safe, controlled environments.\n\"I think there's a whole lot of educating and training, of both kids and parents, to let them know what we perceive is safe right now, what safeguards we're putting out there, and maybe the things that we don't know,\" Rowe said. \"We have to be honest about it all.\"\nAugust Jones, an eighth grade student at Clairton, said AI has the potential to be a \"great help,\" but noted the technology's outputs always need to be reviewed. When her class reviewed information from AI for a project about the environment in Clairton, some of the information was incorrect, she said.\n\"We need to be careful with AI,\" said August, 13. \"I feel like, with AI, you should be a certain age to use it. AI is for work and to help with certain things in life.\"\nDaniel Ellis, her classmate, said AI should not be used to simply ask for answers.\n\"It's unique,\" said Daniel, 13. \"It's not been out in the world for long. I think it can be used for good. It can help you learn.\"\nRowe said student perspectives are crucial when designing future AI policies and uses.\n\"Young people are at the forefront of this, and they might feel like they're not ready to contribute in a meaningful way,\" she said. \"But I would make the argument that they already have a lot of the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are necessary to meaningfully contribute to this conversation.\"\n© 2026 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.","excerpt":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. 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Initiative Prompts Students to Build and Use AI Models - GovTech","url":"https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/pa-initiative-prompts-students-to-build-and-use-ai-models","summary":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.","source":"GovTech","date":"2026-09-22T19:45:21+00:00","content":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.\nBut most importantly, he said, he understands the technology comes with dangers.\n\"Some use it to cheat, and do bad things. Others use it for good,\" Manno said during a student summit Friday at the AI Horizons event at the Bakery Square complex in Pittsburgh's East End. \"It's emerging technology. It's better to get ahead of the curve and learn it.\"\nAbout 150 teenagers from across the region were tasked to use AI models to create a mascot for the state. It's part of a broader initiative, Pennsylvania Creates, designed to help build and create AI models ethically.\nPennsylvania Creates is a joint project of organizations across education and tech: the nonprofit Remake Learning, industry booster group AI Strike Team, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.\nThe event comes as concerns mount over the pace of AI development, safety concerns and runaway AI use. A former Anthropic researcher made international headlines last week by declaring he worried AI would destroy humanity if the technology was not regulated.\n\"It can help get the public used to AI, and get away from the visions of the Terminator taking over the planet, and using AI in a good way,\" Manno said. \"I can see it misused with cyber attacks and security. You shouldn't fear the tool itself, but the people that have it.\"\nWhile growth, use and evolution of AI is inevitable, misuse of the technology is concerning, state Education Secretary Carrie Rowe told TribLive.\n\"For a long time, we've been using the phrases digital natives, digital literacy and digital citizenship. I don't think those go away,\" she said. \"I think the most impactful thing right now will be digital citizenship, not withholding the technology from the students but telling them there's a whole lot of this that people don't understand, and it's a multifacted issue.\"\nRowe said her department will be publishing AI-related guidelines for schools to consider. She anticipates those to be released by January.\nShe emphasized those guidelines will likely be the first of many as AI continues to evolve and become more understood by the general public.\n\"We've often used the phrase 'lifelong learner' in education, and that's never been more important than it is right now,\" Rowe said. \"Teachers can't bury their heads in the sand. Administrators can't say, 'I'm going to let the students figure it out,' or 'I'm going to let the teachers figure it out on their own.' We have to stay in communication with each other.\"\nIn Rowe's perspective, children should not be using chatbots for mental or physical health questions. She recommended caution on schools using AI for data security.\nAppropriate AI use, she said, would be allowing students to use the technology in safe, controlled environments.\n\"I think there's a whole lot of educating and training, of both kids and parents, to let them know what we perceive is safe right now, what safeguards we're putting out there, and maybe the things that we don't know,\" Rowe said. \"We have to be honest about it all.\"\nAugust Jones, an eighth grade student at Clairton, said AI has the potential to be a \"great help,\" but noted the technology's outputs always need to be reviewed. When her class reviewed information from AI for a project about the environment in Clairton, some of the information was incorrect, she said.\n\"We need to be careful with AI,\" said August, 13. \"I feel like, with AI, you should be a certain age to use it. AI is for work and to help with certain things in life.\"\nDaniel Ellis, her classmate, said AI should not be used to simply ask for answers.\n\"It's unique,\" said Daniel, 13. \"It's not been out in the world for long. I think it can be used for good. It can help you learn.\"\nRowe said student perspectives are crucial when designing future AI policies and uses.\n\"Young people are at the forefront of this, and they might feel like they're not ready to contribute in a meaningful way,\" she said. \"But I would make the argument that they already have a lot of the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are necessary to meaningfully contribute to this conversation.\"\n© 2026 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.). 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Initiative Prompts Students to Build and Use AI Models - GovTech","url":"https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/pa-initiative-prompts-students-to-build-and-use-ai-models","source":"GovTech","author":null,"published_at":"2026-09-22T19:45:21+00:00","locale":"en","topic":"ai","tags":[],"excerpt":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.","full_text":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.\nBut most importantly, he said, he understands the technology comes with dangers.\n\"Some use it to cheat, and do bad things. Others use it for good,\" Manno said during a student summit Friday at the AI Horizons event at the Bakery Square complex in Pittsburgh's East End. \"It's emerging technology. It's better to get ahead of the curve and learn it.\"\nAbout 150 teenagers from across the region were tasked to use AI models to create a mascot for the state. It's part of a broader initiative, Pennsylvania Creates, designed to help build and create AI models ethically.\nPennsylvania Creates is a joint project of organizations across education and tech: the nonprofit Remake Learning, industry booster group AI Strike Team, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.\nThe event comes as concerns mount over the pace of AI development, safety concerns and runaway AI use. A former Anthropic researcher made international headlines last week by declaring he worried AI would destroy humanity if the technology was not regulated.\n\"It can help get the public used to AI, and get away from the visions of the Terminator taking over the planet, and using AI in a good way,\" Manno said. \"I can see it misused with cyber attacks and security. You shouldn't fear the tool itself, but the people that have it.\"\nWhile growth, use and evolution of AI is inevitable, misuse of the technology is concerning, state Education Secretary Carrie Rowe told TribLive.\n\"For a long time, we've been using the phrases digital natives, digital literacy and digital citizenship. I don't think those go away,\" she said. \"I think the most impactful thing right now will be digital citizenship, not withholding the technology from the students but telling them there's a whole lot of this that people don't understand, and it's a multifacted issue.\"\nRowe said her department will be publishing AI-related guidelines for schools to consider. She anticipates those to be released by January.\nShe emphasized those guidelines will likely be the first of many as AI continues to evolve and become more understood by the general public.\n\"We've often used the phrase 'lifelong learner' in education, and that's never been more important than it is right now,\" Rowe said. \"Teachers can't bury their heads in the sand. Administrators can't say, 'I'm going to let the students figure it out,' or 'I'm going to let the teachers figure it out on their own.' We have to stay in communication with each other.\"\nIn Rowe's perspective, children should not be using chatbots for mental or physical health questions. She recommended caution on schools using AI for data security.\nAppropriate AI use, she said, would be allowing students to use the technology in safe, controlled environments.\n\"I think there's a whole lot of educating and training, of both kids and parents, to let them know what we perceive is safe right now, what safeguards we're putting out there, and maybe the things that we don't know,\" Rowe said. \"We have to be honest about it all.\"\nAugust Jones, an eighth grade student at Clairton, said AI has the potential to be a \"great help,\" but noted the technology's outputs always need to be reviewed. When her class reviewed information from AI for a project about the environment in Clairton, some of the information was incorrect, she said.\n\"We need to be careful with AI,\" said August, 13. \"I feel like, with AI, you should be a certain age to use it. AI is for work and to help with certain things in life.\"\nDaniel Ellis, her classmate, said AI should not be used to simply ask for answers.\n\"It's unique,\" said Daniel, 13. \"It's not been out in the world for long. I think it can be used for good. It can help you learn.\"\nRowe said student perspectives are crucial when designing future AI policies and uses.\n\"Young people are at the forefront of this, and they might feel like they're not ready to contribute in a meaningful way,\" she said. \"But I would make the argument that they already have a lot of the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are necessary to meaningfully contribute to this conversation.\"\n© 2026 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.). 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He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.","source":"GovTech","date":"2026-09-22T19:45:21+00:00","content":"The 18-year-old has used AI to help generate flashcards and other study materials for difficult courses. He worked with the technology for school classes like coding and video game design, as he's interested in a future career in computer science.\nBut most importantly, he said, he understands the technology comes with dangers.\n\"Some use it to cheat, and do bad things. Others use it for good,\" Manno said during a student summit Friday at the AI Horizons event at the Bakery Square complex in Pittsburgh's East End. \"It's emerging technology. It's better to get ahead of the curve and learn it.\"\nAbout 150 teenagers from across the region were tasked to use AI models to create a mascot for the state. It's part of a broader initiative, Pennsylvania Creates, designed to help build and create AI models ethically.\nPennsylvania Creates is a joint project of organizations across education and tech: the nonprofit Remake Learning, industry booster group AI Strike Team, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.\nThe event comes as concerns mount over the pace of AI development, safety concerns and runaway AI use. A former Anthropic researcher made international headlines last week by declaring he worried AI would destroy humanity if the technology was not regulated.\n\"It can help get the public used to AI, and get away from the visions of the Terminator taking over the planet, and using AI in a good way,\" Manno said. \"I can see it misused with cyber attacks and security. You shouldn't fear the tool itself, but the people that have it.\"\nWhile growth, use and evolution of AI is inevitable, misuse of the technology is concerning, state Education Secretary Carrie Rowe told TribLive.\n\"For a long time, we've been using the phrases digital natives, digital literacy and digital citizenship. I don't think those go away,\" she said. \"I think the most impactful thing right now will be digital citizenship, not withholding the technology from the students but telling them there's a whole lot of this that people don't understand, and it's a multifacted issue.\"\nRowe said her department will be publishing AI-related guidelines for schools to consider. She anticipates those to be released by January.\nShe emphasized those guidelines will likely be the first of many as AI continues to evolve and become more understood by the general public.\n\"We've often used the phrase 'lifelong learner' in education, and that's never been more important than it is right now,\" Rowe said. \"Teachers can't bury their heads in the sand. Administrators can't say, 'I'm going to let the students figure it out,' or 'I'm going to let the teachers figure it out on their own.' We have to stay in communication with each other.\"\nIn Rowe's perspective, children should not be using chatbots for mental or physical health questions. She recommended caution on schools using AI for data security.\nAppropriate AI use, she said, would be allowing students to use the technology in safe, controlled environments.\n\"I think there's a whole lot of educating and training, of both kids and parents, to let them know what we perceive is safe right now, what safeguards we're putting out there, and maybe the things that we don't know,\" Rowe said. \"We have to be honest about it all.\"\nAugust Jones, an eighth grade student at Clairton, said AI has the potential to be a \"great help,\" but noted the technology's outputs always need to be reviewed. When her class reviewed information from AI for a project about the environment in Clairton, some of the information was incorrect, she said.\n\"We need to be careful with AI,\" said August, 13. \"I feel like, with AI, you should be a certain age to use it. AI is for work and to help with certain things in life.\"\nDaniel Ellis, her classmate, said AI should not be used to simply ask for answers.\n\"It's unique,\" said Daniel, 13. \"It's not been out in the world for long. I think it can be used for good. It can help you learn.\"\nRowe said student perspectives are crucial when designing future AI policies and uses.\n\"Young people are at the forefront of this, and they might feel like they're not ready to contribute in a meaningful way,\" she said. \"But I would make the argument that they already have a lot of the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are necessary to meaningfully contribute to this conversation.\"\n© 2026 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.). 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