Blog: How the Artificial Intelligence Pathways Institute Prepares Teens for Strong Futures
The card on the table says “This changes everything.” It’s an invitation—each of the players around the table considers the AI-powered topics described on the cards in their hand and looks for a good fit. Jayden decides to play one that he’s been saving for just the right moment: “AI predicting where crimes are likely to happen before they occur.” Fair play! But not perfect: his classmate selected “characters in video games that have realistic conversations with you” as the best fit.
This AI-driven card game, which was custom designed by teenage participants in the innovative Artificial Intelligence Pathways Institute (AIPI) program, was recently played at the McKeesport Teen Center, one of four Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania (BGCWPA) sites where the AIPI program is hosted. Now in its 7th year, the AIPI program is co-led by PPG and BGCWPA, and every year since 2019, PPG’s Global IT team has played a critical role in making the program a success.
Over the course of the program, over 20 PPG employees visit AIPI sites to provide mentorship to over 80 high school students from all corners of Western Pennsylvania as they design their final projects for the camp. More team members from the company will judge these capstone projects and celebrate in a culminating showcase hosted at PPG Place’s Wintergarden. Beyond generous financial support, PPG helps to develop and refine curriculum to ensure its alignment with the ever-evolving AI technology, coordinates logistics, and provides staff mentors to share more about their career journeys.
The topics that AIPI introduces have never been more relevant. According to research from Stanford University’s 2026 AI Index, AI-related skills are required in 297% more job postings than they were a decade ago. Research from Microsoft found that 66% of business leaders say they wouldn’t hire someone without AI literacy skills. PPG and BGCWPA have been helping to raise student abilities, awareness, and confidence through AIPI long before the release of tools such as ChatGPT.
“As a teenager living in western PA, there’s never really been much for kids to do during the summer. When I found out about AIPI, I asked my mom to sign me up. When I first came, I was shy and nervous to meet new people,” said AIPI participant and BGCWPA McKeesport Club Teen member Laneare Mitchell. “Still, AIPI helped me learn new skills like generating images, fixing games, and improving social skills, helping me to make new friends. If I could ever recommend something for teens to do, it would be AIPI.”
Artificial Intelligence has incredible promise, of course—but that promise comes with very real challenges that our students spend significant time grappling with. Indeed, one of the final projects that students may choose to pursue as part of the AIPI program is to build an informational poster exploring both sides of an important question about AI’s impact on their own lives as students and residents of the Pittsburgh region. Other projects will focus on developing students’ problem-solving skills, creativity, and taste: some students will choose to create new music and make a video to accompany it, and still others will be building their own video games using generative AI to write the code together with them.
BGCWPA’s AIPI program aligns with the PPG Foundation’s commitment to investing in a stronger future for students and preparing young people for success in life.
“AI skills are increasingly becoming an expectation in today’s workforce, making it more important than ever to equip students with the skills to understand, adapt, responsibly use and lead with emerging technologies. By investing in education programs for the next generation of innovators and leaders, we’re not just preparing students for the future, we’re empowering them to shape it,” said Bhaskar Ramachandran, PPG vice president and chief information officer. “We’re proud to continue our partnership with BGCWPA, bringing valuable educational resources to Pittsburgh-area students while giving our employees the opportunity to help students apply their learnings through a real-world lens.”