IBM Partners With Atlanta HBCU to Boost IT Skills Among Students

Atlanta-based HBCU Clark Atlanta University has announced a collaboration with IBM SkillsBuild to help cultivate AI talent among future developers and drive economic growth. 

As part of the partnership, IBM will offer professors AI training and create new AI coursework for students.

Closing The AI Skills Gap

Generative AI might make the economic racial gap $43 billion bigger each year, according to a study by McKinsey. Black workers are more likely to have jobs that could be replaced by machines, such as office work, factory work, serving food, and fixing equipment. 

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Furthermore, a recent study from IBM and Morning Consult revealed that 76% of developers don’t consider themselves to be experts in generative AI. This shows how the growth of generative AI has exacerbated the existing skills gap across roles.

In response to this, Clark Atlanta University is working with IBM as part of a new strategy to help university students and aspiring developers build the AI competencies that will help them thrive.

“As we embark on this transformative partnership with IBM, we recognize the critical importance of closing the digital divide and fostering an inclusive technological landscape,” says Dr. Charlene D. Gilbert, Provost and Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Clark Atlanta University. 

“By equipping our students with essential AI competencies, we not only prepare them for future opportunities but also ensure that the development of artificial intelligence reflects the broad range of perspectives of the communities it serves. It is imperative that the architects of AI systems represent the very populations they impact, thereby promoting economic viability and sustainable growth in the digital age.”

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How Clark Atlanta University and IBM’s Partnership Will Work

Clark Atlanta University‘s collaboration with IBM SkillsBuild focuses on faculty training and real-world learning opportunities. IBM will provide professors with AI training and resources to enhance their students’ skills, along with access to watsonx and Granite, IBM’s generative AI products. This will enable professors to incorporate advanced AI learning into their curriculum.

Students will benefit from hands-on experiences, including 90-minute interactive labs that explore topics like code generation and data classification using large language models. They’ll also participate in group innovation challenges, like hackathons, and work on generative AI capstone projects that solve real-world problems. These projects will be developed over a semester with guidance from IBM experts and professors.

Additionally, students will have opportunities to earn digital credentials recognized by future employers and access free generative AI courses that cover topics like text-to-speech, chatbots, and open-source large language models. These one-hour courses will help students build a foundation of AI understanding.

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“The pace of AI innovation continues to challenge and inspire businesses across industries, making skilled talent more important than ever,” said Justina Nixon-Saintil, IBM VP and Chief Impact Officer. “As we see the rise of more open-source AI models, it’s clear that the pace of transformation is not slowing down. The future of AI will be shaped by students, educators, and professionals who not only have the skills to use generative AI, but also to manage AI agents, or even build them.”