PI: Michael Nitsche (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Student researchers: Supratim Pait (PhD candidate), Victoria Ponce (GSU)

Our project will investigateAI education through the lens of material cultures of specific communities in metro Atlanta. We focus on how culture scaffolds critical AI literacy efforts through material practices. We will partner with, Agape Foundation, a local non-profit that works with youth.

For this project, we will host workshops for middle school youth in Latinx communities in Atlanta. Our approach uses material objects familiar to participants (e.g., objects from a festival, rituals, family traditions). These serve as entry points to develop an understanding of generative AI that is rooted in personal cultural identity. We extend our existing hybrid method of making, performance and design futuring as participants form their own material expressions in relation to AI systems.