Her AI classes help empower young girls

What began as Ishani Singh’s science fair project using artificial intelligence to stop online bullying has now turned into a global movement to encourage and empower girls to master AI and break down barriers!

- —Bill Holton

Online bullying must be stopped!” Holmdel, New Jersey, 9th grader Ishani Singh proclaimed at the science fair, standing at her demonstration table with her data files and poster boards showcasing her work. “I’m using artificial intelligence to automatically identify bullying comments on social media and flag them for removal,” she explained.

Ishani had always excelled at math, but in middle school her passion expanded to computers. She learned to code, and when she entered her local technical high school, she realized AI was the wave of the future.

Ishani won first place at the science fair and soon advanced to the regionals. She was proud and excited, but she also felt a pang of sadness when she realized she was the only girl in the competition.

There were classes and clubs encouraging girls to learn coding, but there was little support specifically for girls in AI.