CS Equity + AI

As AI reshapes our world, NYC students must be equipped not only with knowledge of how to use these technologies but also to critically understand, question, and shape them (which includes knowing when to critique and refuse these technologies). The critical pedagogies teachers choose will determine whether AI deepens existing inequities or becomes a transformational tool.

YOUTH & FAMILIES, WONDERING WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH AI?

Check out all of these fabulous resources from Day of AI and Commonsense Media BELOW

Why Does Teaching Critical AI Matter

As New York’s AI education team, we understand that CS, and in particular AI, is starting to shape everything from what we see online to how decisions get made about jobs, healthcare, and especially education. That’s why it’s not enough to just teach students how to use AI, they also need to ask big questions about how it works, who built it, and who it impacts. A critical approach to AI helps young people understand the power behind the technology, recognize bias and injustice when they see it, and feel confident using their voices to imagine innovation that is justice and ethical. Learn more about Critical AI here.

1. A young person walks into a car dealership and buys the ‘flashiest’ car on the lot.

3. Before touching a steering wheel, students learn how an engine runs, what enables pedals to work, how to read road signs, how to drive defensively — and the impacts this make and model has on the world, who designed it and why.

Learning to navigate makes the tool safer, more effective — and empowers the driver.

2. That same day, they pull onto the freeway — no lessons, no license, no clue. Just because you have a powerful tool doesn’t mean you know how to use it responsibly.

4. But if you start using it without understanding its blind spots, how it “sees” the world, or who designed the road it’s driving on… you’re not in control.

Using AI without understanding is like stepping into traffic without driving lessons — but this time, the road affects everyone.

NEW EVENTS, RESOURCES
& FEATURED EDUCATORS

NEW RESOURCE

2025-2026 CS Pioneers Calendar!

The purpose of this calendar is to celebrate the accomplishments of past and present computer science pioneers, and specifically to highlight the work done by people from historically excluded groups.

We hope that these pioneers inspire your students and serve to remind them that anyone can be a computer scientist, regardless of race, gender, or (dis)ability.

DOWNLOAD CALENDAR AND RESOURCES

NEW FEATURED REPORT

The CS4All Equity Initiative:
Successes, Challenges & What’s Next

Did you miss our Equity Impact Report Release event? Check out the video and download the short report to learn more about our work– including Exploring Equity in CS, a multi-year professional learning intervention.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE!

NEW DAY OF AI FESTIVAL + EVENTS

YOUTH AND FAMILIES, WONDERING WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH AI?

Check out all of these fabulous resources from Day of AI and Commonsense Media

AI LITERACY FAMILY TOOLKIT

Day of AI and Common Sense Media are proud to introduce a free AI Literacy Family Toolkit, a resource designed to help families build foundational AI knowledge together at home.

AMERICA’S YOUTH AI FESTIVAL

July 17-19, 2026 Win an all-expenses-paid trip to Boston and MIT to celebrate America's 250th anniversary in one of the birthplaces of our nation and artificial intelligence!

STUDENT SENATE ON AI POLICY

Become a Student Senator! Two students from every state will be selected to come to Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2026 to debate a national Policy on AI Use in K-12 Schools on the Senate floor at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute.

AI FOR A BETTER WORLD

AI For A Better World is a national initiative developed in collaboration with MIT Solve that invites students in grades 6-12 to explore how artificial intelligence can improve their communities and the broader world. This project challenges students to identify real problems they see or experience and to consider how AI can empower them to propose credible, meaningful solutions. Applications will be submitted through the MIT Solve platform, which opens for submissions on February 17, 2026, when the full application will become available. Selected student teams will be invited to present their solutions to a panel of experts at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts in July 2026 as part of the national celebration of youth innovation.

AI LIVE!

AI Live! is part of a national initiative for students in grades 3-12 to explore through the performing arts how artificial intelligence is shaping our world. This project challenges students to use AI to create original performances, whether in music, dance, or drama that express our evolving relationship with technology. Selected student performers will have the opportunity to showcase their work at the Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 2026.

ME, MYSELF, AND AI

Me, Myself, and AI is part of a national initiative for students in grades 3-12 to creatively explore artificial intelligence. This project challenges students to engage with AI and create two pieces of visual artwork: one depicting their community today and one imagining it 50 years in the future. Selected student artists will have the opportunity to showcase their original works at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 2026.