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, shape, critique, and refuse them when they undermine equity or agency. The critical pedagogies teachers choose will determine whether AI deepens existing inequities or becomes a transformational tool.

NEW FEATURED EVENT

Expedition AI: DISCOVER, RECLAIM, REIMAGINE

On June 6, 2026, in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History, we celebrated our Exploring Equity in AI (EEAI) culminating event: Expedition AI: DISCOVER, RECLAIM, REIMAGINE.

We gathered with hundreds of fellow teachers, students, scientists, and members of the public to share Critical AI lesson plans and policy proposals. These projects highlighted the incredible work of our EEAI Fellows.

Click here often– we will continue to add to our collection of Critical AI resources from Exploring Equity in AI Fellows!

CRITICAL AI LESSON PLANS + POLICY PROPOSALS

Why Teaching Critical AI Matters

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 just 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, drivers should learn how an engine runs, what enables pedals to work, how to read road signs, and how to drive safely. They should also know the impacts the machine’s make and model has on the world; who designed it and why. The driver becomes empowered when they learn to use the car first, keeping the tool safer and more effective for them.

2. That same day without lessons, a license, or even a clue, they pull onto the freeway. They have a powerful tool but no idea how to use it! They are putting themselves, and other drivers at risk.

4. We should all learn about the technologies that affect us. Using AI without understanding its functions and impacts is like speeding through traffic without driving lessons. If we don't understand AI's "blind spots" and biases, how it sees the world, and who designed it, we can make mistakes that impact ourselves and those around us.

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.