AI, Digital Equity, and Rural Education

While society is in the middle of a burgeoning AI revolution, such unprecedented growth has largely been focused on urban and suburban spheres throughout the nation.  However, scant attention has been given to the unequal playing field in rural and Tribal communities, especially here, in Michigan.  This presentation will attempt to tease-out such educational inequities, and provide possible solutions to redress such trends.

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Join us to examine the growing trends in AI, but from an often overlooked and lesser-focused perspective, a rural and Tribal community-lens.  This session will not only document the current technological paradigm and disconnect between rural / Tribal and urban / suburban communities, but also note how this gap has been shrinking, as of late.  Additionally, we will also explore the paradox of AI in the rural and Tribal sectors, and show how it can be leveraged as a useful tool to bridge the proverbial 'digital divide,' but also how it risks further alienating such traditionally disenfranchised communities.  Attendees will walk away with a newfound appreciation and understanding of the current AI-divide, but also practical strategies for how to reconcile such technological disconnects.