Melania on AI in education: "The robots are here"
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Melania Trump with Michael Kratsios and Linda McMahon on Thursday. Photo: Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images
Teaching students AI literacy from an early age is key to American success, first lady Melania Trump said at a White House event on Thursday with cabinet secretaries and tech CEOs.
Why it matters: The White House sees AI in K-12 education as a key part of ensuring American competitiveness in the field.
- Administration officials are doubling down on AI programs and grants and arguing that AI will help, not hurt, American workers.
- "The robots are here. Our future is no longer science fiction," Trump said.
Driving the news: The first lady's office announced an "Age of AI" challenge for students and teachers last month, and today's announcements were made as part of the White House Task Force on AI Education.
- Companies including Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Code.org, IBM and OpenAI pledged new commitments for AI in education as part of Thursday's event.
- Trump was flanked by a number of cabinet officials who discussed AI initiatives within their agencies, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying the U.S. needs to "massively grow our electricity production" to meet AI demands.
- White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella were in attendance. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was spotted in the first row.
Between the lines: Absent from Thursday's event were any discussions of children's safety and mental health, an important topic given the latest high-profile reports concerning teenagers who died by suicide after engaging with AI chatbots.
- The first lady has also made kids' online safety part of her policy portfolio, championing the passage of the TAKE IT DOWN Act earlier this year.
- That law aims to bolster protections against the nonconsensual dissemination of sexual images, including those generated through AI, and targets deepfake and revenge pornography.
- Trump, however, didn't focus on mental health or children's safety using AI in school settings during the Thursday meeting she chaired.
- President Donald Trump was not at the event.
