Cynthia Breazeal has joined MIT Open Learning as senior associate dean, beginning in the Fall 2021 semester. The MIT professor of media arts and sciences and head of the Personal Robots group at the MIT Media Lab is also director of MIT RAISE, a cross-MIT initiative on artificial intelligence education. At MIT Open Learning, Breazeal will oversee MIT xPRO, Bootcamps, and Horizon, three units focused on different aspects of developing and delivering courses, programs, training, and learning resources to professionals. With experience as an entrepreneur and founder of a high-tech startup, Breazeal has a nuanced understanding of the startup spirit of MIT Open Learning's revenue-generating business units, and of the importance of connecting MIT's deep knowledge base with the just-in-time needs of professionals in the workforce. "I appreciate the potential educational and training impact of exciting new innovations in the business world. Each of these programs addresses a specific market opportunity and has a particular style of engaging with MIT's educational materials," says Breazeal.

A new cross-disciplinary research initiative at MIT aims to promote the understanding and use of AI across all segments of society. The effort, called Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE), will develop new teaching approaches and tools to engage learners in settings from preK-12 to the workforce. "People are using AI every day in our workplaces and our private lives. Being digitally literate is no longer enough. People need to be AI-literate to understand the responsible use of AI and create things with it at individual, community, and societal levels," says RAISE Director Cynthia Breazeal, a professor of media arts and sciences at MIT. "But right now, if you want to learn about AI to make AI-powered applications, you pretty much need to have a college degree in computer science or related topic," Breazeal adds.

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