Mark Cuban Foundation Selects Union For AI Bootcamp This Fall

UNION COUNTY, NJ — Elizabethtown Gas will host a Mark Cuban Foundation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp for underserved high school students in Union Township this fall.

The free bootcamp will be targeted at high school students and will introduce them to basic AI concepts and skills, according to the Mark Cuban Foundation.

Elizabethtown Gas is one of 20+ host companies selected to host 30 camps across the U.S. this fall. The bootcamp will be held over four consecutive Saturdays starting on Oct. 22 and ending on Nov. 12.

The student and parent application are now open at markcubanai.org/application. Students do not need any prior experience with computer science, programming or robotics to apply and attend the bootcamp.

According to the Mark Cuban Foundation, 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 also benefit from volunteer mentor instructors who are knowledgeable about data science and will help students quickly understand material that is normally taught at a college level.

As part of the 5-hour curriculum, students also get to work in Microsoft Azure — Microsoft'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 all of the bootcamp’s curriculum materials, trains volunteer mentors and recruits and selects local students to attend the camp.

In addition, the Mark Cuban Foundation and Elizabethtown Gas work together to provide food, transportation and access to laptops for students at no cost throughout the duration of Bootcamp.

Founded by Mark Cuban in 2019, the AI Bootcamp initiative has hosted free AI bootcamps for students across several U.S. cities, including Dallas, Pasadena, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Atlantic City.

Students interested in applying should do so before Thursday, Sept. 1, at markcubanai.org/application.

To see all 2022 camp locations and to learn more about the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamps, visit markcubanai.org/faq.