Application

Applications for the PAS4AI Workforce Summer 2025 Program are due February 28, 2025.

Requirements

  1. Identify as autistic or having Asperger's Syndrome (medical documentation is requested, but not required)
  2. Currently enrolled in a college in the USA for a 2-year degree (e.g. Associates Degree or Associate of Applied Science)
  3. Have passed two college classes in programming, including one course in Python (or commensurate work experience)
  4. Have passed one college class in statistics, calculus, or linear algebra
  5. Are legally eligible to work at a paid job in the USA
  6. Are aged 18 or over
  7. Reside in the USA

Submit your Application

The application will ask you for the following items to submit.

  1. Resume or CV
  2. A transcript from the community college you are attending.
  3. A personal statement with the answers to these 4 questions:
    1. Why are you interested in artificial intelligence (AI)?
    2. What are your career goals? What do you want to do for work after you finish school?
    3. What benefits do you hope to gain by participating in this opportunity?
    4. What are your hopes for autistic inclusion in the workplace?
  4. The name and email address of a college teacher or professor whom we can ask to write a letter of reference for you

Applications will be accepted until February 28, 2025. Accepted students will be notified on a rolling basis.

Program Details

AI Course

  1. Our remote AI course will run ten weeks from April 14, 2025 until June 20, 2025.
  2. We start at the same time as the typical college Spring quarter. If you like, we can help you obtain independent study credit from a professor at your college. Email us to learn how!
  3. You will be taught a curriculum in AI which includes Python Pandas, using large-language models (LLMs) for code generation, data analysis and visualization, prompt engineering, transformer models, integrating LLMs into Python, retrieval-augmented generation, bias, ethics, and hallucinations in AI, and building AI-driven applications.
  4. You will do your AI and LLM work using Google CoLab notebooks.
  5. You will be taught communication and teamwork skills to prepare you to work as part of a professional AI/data science/software team. These skills include team introductions, negotiating communication preferences, communicating across differences, creating a team contract, brainstorming, reading and writing project specifications, standup meetings, writing and presenting status reports, problem solving, interpersonal collaboration, pair programming, mobbing, giving and receiving feedback, and presenting work orally and in written form.
  6. You will learn to work in trios and in teams of 5-6 students and will develop a substantial AI project as part of your coursework.
  7. For each week you meaningfully participate in the course, you will earn a stipend of $176.

Internship

If you successfully complete our AI course, you will be matched with an organization that will offer you a remote or in-person, full-time, summer internship lasting 8-12 weeks. The internship will involve doing AI work for the organization. You will be hired by the organization as an employee.

We will do our best to find you an internship that matches your interests and skills. You (and the organization) will have the opportunity to accept or reject the internship match that we select for you. If either you or the organization reject the match, we will attempt to find another internship for you. If we cannot, you may return to our program in a future offering for an opportunity to do your internship then.

For additional information, please email us at pas4aiworkforce@gmail.com.

Software and Societal Systems Department in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University