Application

Applications for the PAS4AI Workforce Summer Program are now closed.

Requirements

  1. Identify as autistic or having Asperger's Syndrome (medical documentation is requested, but not required)
  2. Currently enrolled in a college in the USA for a 2-year degree
  3. Have passed two college classes in programming (or commensurate work experience)
  4. Have passed one college class in mathematics (statistics would be ideal)
  5. Are legally eligible to work at a paid job in the USA
  6. Are aged 18 or over
  7. Reside in the USA

Application Submission

When you open up the application form, you will be shown a consent form for the research project that we are conducting this course as a part of. If you consent, the application will then ask you for the following items to submit.

  1. Resume or CV
  2. The course titles of two programming courses and one math course that you have taken in college. If you have not taken any of these courses, but have work experience that is commensurate, please describe that work experience.
  3. A picture of your current student ID at a USA-based community college
  4. A picture of a government or school-issued ID showing your current age or date of birth
  5. Answers to 4 questions:
    1. Why are you interested in artificial intelligence (AI)?
    2. What are your career goals? What do you want to do for work after you finish school?
    3. What benefits do you hope to gain by participating in this opportunity?
    4. What are your hopes for autistic inclusion in the workplace?
  6. The name and email address of a college teacher or professor whom we can ask to write a letter of reference for you

Applications will be accepted until April 15, 2024. Accepted students will be notified on a rolling basis.

Program Details

AI Course

  1. Our remote AI course will run four weeks, from June 17 - July 19.
  2. We start June 17 to allow us to begin after the typical college Spring quarter has finished.
  3. You will be taught a curriculum in AI which includes Python Pandas, machine learning fundamentals, data collection/curation/cleaning, deep learning, tensor flow, neural nets, CNNs, regression loss functions, classification, optimization, activation functions, overfitting/underfitting, regularization, generative AI/LLMs, and AI ethics.
  4. You will do your AI and machine learning work using Google CoLab notebooks.
  5. You will be taught communication and teamwork skills to prepare you to work as part of a professional AI/data science/software team. These skills include team introductions, negotiating communication preferences, communicating across differences, creating a team contract, brainstorming, reading and writing project specifications, standup meetings, writing and presenting status reports, problem solving, interpersonal collaboration, pair programming, mobbing, giving and receiving feedback, and presenting work orally and in written form.
  6. You will learn to work in pairs and in teams of 5-6 students and will develop a substantial AI project as part of your coursework.
  7. For each week you meaningfully participate in the course, you will earn a stipend of $440.

Internship

If you successfully complete our AI course, you will be matched with an organization that will offer you a remote summer internship lasting at least 8 weeks. The internship will involve doing AI work for the organization. You will be hired by the organization as an employee.

We will do our best to find you an internship that matches your interests and skills. You (and the organization) will have the opportunity to accept or reject the internship match that we select for you. If either you or the organization reject the match, we will attempt to find another internship for you. If we cannot, you may return to our program next summer for an opportunity to do your internship then.

For additional information, please email us at pas4aiworkforce@gmail.com.

Software and Societal Systems Department in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University