Students at Plainfield High will soon learn about artificial intelligence

PLAINFIELD, CT (WFSB) – Students at Plainfield High School will soon get the opportunity to learn about something that’s at the top of mind for many lately: artificial intelligence.

The class is one of the first of its kind in Connecticut and will be taught by Plainfield High School Lead Computer Science Teacher Nicholas Bousquet.

“Many times when a student is using their phone they’re using it as a consumer and doing it very passively,” Bousquet said. “What we’re hoping to do is to give students the tools that they can use to creatively engage the world and make a positive change.”

Plainfield High Freshmen Makenzie Ezzell and Chase Walker both plan to take the course which starts up next school year.

“I figured it should be pretty fun class to take, definitely interesting, our future will definitely be very AI related,” Walker said.

Walker wants to get into the railroad field when he’s older. Ezzell still hasn’t made up her mind.

“I like to think computers kind of build our future,” Ezzell said.

The course will run all school year and is worth one credit. Students will learn things like how to write the algorithm that runs a map and the science behind computer-based plant production.

“We want to make sure because students lives are being shaped by AI now that they have a deeper understanding of machine learning the algorithms that power these technologies,” Bousquet said.

Artifical intelligence is certainly talked about a lot lately. These Plainfield students are excited for what the future holds and what they’ll learn.

“It was definitely a nice surprise to learn that there’s so much tech related stuff here,” Walker said.

“We need to focus on this because if we don’t learn about it then we won’t know what’s exactly happening,” Ezzell said.

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