Grandma Needs AI Too: Empowering Students to Transform Their Communities

AI is advancing at an unprecedented pace, yet many communities are struggling to keep up. What if students used their AI skills for something bigger than themselves? This session introduces Ripple AI-ffect, an initiative that empowers students to become AI ambassadors who help their communities navigate the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence. Through partnerships with universities, libraries, senior centers, community organizations and local businesses, students learn AI literacy, digital citizenship and ethical AI practices, then teach community members about AI tools, online safety, misinformation, deepfakes and scams. Explore a scalable model that turns AI learning into authentic service learning while students build leadership, communication and workforce-ready skills. Leave with a framework for student-led AI literacy programs, partnership strategies, implementation templates, training resources and real-world examples you can adapt for a single classroom, a school, a district or a community-wide initiative.