A showcase of youth innovation, future artificial intelligence technology took center stage in Rancho Cordova as students showed off their robots.
These Rancho Cordova High School students are getting hands-on experience with artificial intelligence. Today, these young innovators are putting their skills to the test by designing AI robots with real-world applications.
“These are the computer engineers of the future,” said Mayor Garrett Gatewood.
So far they have two big name clients. The City of Rancho Cordova helps sponsor student research. The mayor says this is part of the city’s efforts to become an AI technology hub.
“It’s employment, education and job readiness all rolled into one,” Gatewood said. “We’re building what’s called an AI ecosphere.”
The students designed an online AI portal for the city, capable of providing customer service and tracking incoming questions and concerns.
“So the city can understand how many customers have called, why are they calling, what is the reason for the call,” said Jothi Periasamy, host of the program.
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District also signed up to demonstrate a student-created chat agent. It can perform tasks such as showing customers how to save money through energy consumption.
“It’s a much more efficient way to work with new technology,” Gatewood said.
Past generations of Rancho Cordova’s tech workers helped build rockets that sent man to the moon, and even though those jobs are now gone, the mayor and other AI advocates say training today’s youth is crucial to staying relevant in the high-tech job market.
“It’s in our DNA to be the science capital, and so we’re just going back to what we’ve always done,” Gatewood said.
Last September, the Rancho Cordova City Council approved spending $5 million to create a new AI and robotics economy, and part of that money is now funding this educational program.