Scouting America Introduces Cutting-Edge Merit Badges in AI and Cybersecurity
(CNN) — Scouting America, the rebranded organization formerly recognized as the Boy Scouts, has unveiled an innovative opportunity for its members to earn two merit badges centered on contemporary technology: one dedicated to artificial intelligence and another to cybersecurity.
With a membership exceeding one million scouts, the organization currently offers an extensive array of merit badges, covering diverse topics that range from fishing to fingerprinting. These badges have long provided scouts with avenues to enhance skills and dive into new realms of knowledge.
The introduction of these new badges is part of a comprehensive strategy aimed at maintaining relevance in a progressively digital landscape.
“Our objective is to curate merit badges that resonate with the interests of today’s youth,” remarked Roger Krone, CEO of Scouting America, in a statement to CNN.
These latest badges mark not the organization’s initial venture into artificial intelligence; earlier this summer, it launched an AI chatbot named Scoutly, designed to respond to queries regarding the organization and its merit badges.
“Embracing AI is integral to the technological metamorphosis we are all experiencing. To remain pertinent, akin to other contemporary organizations, we are wholeheartedly adopting artificial intelligence—and, indeed, all facets of technology—to enhance our capabilities,” Krone elaborated.
The organization noted that the AI badge will prompt scouts to explore the ramifications of AI on everyday life, investigate the implications of deepfakes, and undertake a project that either utilizes AI or elucidates the technology for fellow scouts.
Michael Dunn, an officer in the Air Force who collaborated with Scouting America to develop the cybersecurity badge, stated it equips young individuals with vital tools “to protect themselves and their families from the myriad of threats present in today’s world.”
Dunn further emphasized that the badge introduces scouts to a burgeoning industry in dire need of skilled professionals, highlighting the substantial number of unfilled positions within the cybersecurity sector.
Scouts have been able to pursue the new badges for approximately a week, with some members, including brothers Charles, 13, and Wydell Hendricks, 15, already achieving this distinction.
Charles described the experience of earning the cybersecurity badge as “more enjoyable than it is laborious,” which prompted him to contemplate potential career avenues within the field.
Wydell, who aspires to a career in cybersecurity within the Air Force, articulated another significant takeaway from the process.
“I believe this badge also promotes ethical considerations, an essential quality for any scout,” Wydell expressed.
Source link: Wthitv.com.
