CHICAGO, July 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — McDonald’s USA will host a Mark Cuban Foundation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp for high school students in the Fall of 2022. The No Cost AI Bootcamp in Chicago will be offered for high school students and will introduce underserved students in grades 9 through 12 to basic AI concepts and skills.
McDonald’s USA is one of 20+ companies selected to host 30 camps across the US in Fall 2022.
The Bootcamp at McDonald’s headquarters will be held over four consecutive Saturdays starting on October 22nd and ending on November 12th.
The student and parent applications are now open at markcubanai.org/application. Students do not need any prior experience with computer science, programming, or robotics to apply and attend.
Throughout the AI Bootcamp, students will learn what artificial intelligence is and is not, where they already interact with AI in their own lives, and the ethical implications of AI systems including but not limited to TikTok recommendations, smart home assistants, facial recognition, and self-driving cars to name a few.
Students will benefit from volunteer mentor instructors from McDonald’s, who are knowledgeable about data science and able to help students quickly understand material normally taught at a collegiate level. As part of the 5-hour curriculum, students also get to work in Microsoft Azure, Micros oft’s cloud computing platform, each day to build their own AI applications related to Chatbots, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Natural Language Processing.
The Mark Cuban Foundation provides the bootcamp’s curriculum materials, trains volunteer mentors, and recruits and selects local students to attend camp. In addition, the Mark Cuban Foundation and McDonald’s USA work together to provide food, transportation, and access to laptops for students at no cost throughout the duration of Bootcamp.
The initiative builds on McDonald’s long-standing commitment to supporting the advancement of diverse communities by providing professional opportunities for growth and development. In addition to collaborating with organizations like The Mark Cuban Foundation, McDonald’s USA offers a variety of scholarships to help alleviate financial barriers to education, fosters community connection through local donations and event partnerships, and provides mental health, wellness and mentoring resources for students across the diverse communities it serves every day.
“This Bootcamp was one of my favorite experiences, and I learned a lot of new things about AI. Thank you to the Mark Cuban AI foundation and the awesome virtual McDonalds camp for the opportunity!” – Harita S., AI Bootcamp Participant, McDonald’s 2021
Founded by Mark Cuban in 2019, the AI Bootcamp initiative has hosted free AI bootcamps for students across several US cities, including Dallas, Pasadena, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Atlantic City to name a few. The Mark Cuban Foundation has impacted 450+ students to date and has a goal to have 1,000 students graduate from AI Bootcamps Program in 2023.
Students interested in applying to the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp should do so before Thursday, September 1st, 2022 at markcubanai.org/application. To see our 2022 camp locations and to learn more about the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamps, please visit markcubanai.org/faq.
Contact: Carli Lidiak, Mark Cuban Foundation
Phone: 309-840-0348
Email: carli.lidiak@markcubanai.org