The Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation (“The Foundation”) has partnered with SenseTime, a world-leading AI company, to launch the new 'GenRobo' Programme 2023-24 — The Path to Become AI Engineers (“The Programme”) this month. The Programme provides free AI courses to nearly 1,700 underprivileged students, aiming to ignite their interest in artificial intelligence, robotics, and programming, foster their exploratory spirit as well enhance their programming skills and comprehensive problem-solving abilities utilising technology.

For the past two years, over 2,200 primary and secondary students benefited from the GenRobo Programme organised by the Foundation. In this third year, there are 60 secondary one to three students joining from 28 government-funded, subsidised and aided secondary schools, benefiting a total of nearly 1,700 underprivileged students. The Programme is conducted by Trumptech and consists of two phases. In the first phase, students will participate in a 3-hour 'SenseTime AI Workshop', which will take place at the 3,000-sq-ft GBA Youth AI Development Centre and SenseTime headquarter at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks. Students will have hands-on experience to explore the latest AI technologies and developments. In the second phase, each participating school will nominate four outstanding students to form a team. Altogether 28 teams with a total of 112 students will participate in a 9-hour 'Advanced AI Course' and thereafter a 'Greater Bay Area AI Experiential Tour' early next year to enhance their understanding of the innovation and technology development in the Greater Bay Area. After that, all teams will compete in the AI Engineer Competition to showcase their learning achievements. All expenses of the Programme are sponsored by the Foundation to support the youths to venture their paths to AI engineers.

Mr. YANG Bin, Chief Executive Officer of The Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, said, "AI technology is developing rapidly, and its applications is increasingly widespread across various industries and integrating into our daily lives. The Foundation, which focuses on the diverse development of Hong Kong's young people, has been supporting underprivileged students to learn about AI technology for three consecutive years. Through AI skills training, students can gain an understanding of the basic principles, applications, and impacts of artificial intelligence. Additionally, it cultivates their innovative thinking, problem-solving, and logical reasoning abilities. Hong Kong's youth would be equipped to participate in the future innovation and technology development in the Greater Bay Area."

Ms. Esther Wong, Managing Director of SenseTime Group Limited, said, "SenseTime was established in Hong Kong nine years ago, and we are delighted to contribute to the society by collaborating with the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation to discover the interests and potentials of the younger generation in artificial intelligence. In this Programme, we utilise SenseStorm robots which can easily be equipped with various AI functionalities. According to practical applications, students can unleash their creativity and technological skills to train AI robots."

'GenRobo' Programme 2023-24 — the Journey to Become AI Engineers’ programme differentiates from other AI courses in a few areas. Firstly, it encourages students to learn through hands-on experience, strengthening their understanding and application of AI theory. Secondly, the programme emphasises equipping students with engineering design skills and computational thinking, which are essential in STEM education. Thirdly, the course utilises the SenseStorm robot designed by SenseTime. The robot kit includes an ample supply of building blocks and electronic hardware with sensory abilities of the environment. This provides students with a platform to unleash their creativity and bring their ideas to life.

The briefing session of the Programme was recently held at YO PLACE of The Foundation. Representatives from various participating schools attended the session to gain a deeper understanding of the Programme's details and arrangements.