continue their education at a four-year university, to hear their perspective.

Q: Can you define HCAI in your own words and share what you have learned so far. A: McFall:“ HCAI is making artificial intelligence human-focused on design so it’ s easier and more usable for a person. It solves real life problems that everyone can relate to.”

Q: What have you worked on so far to support the implementation of HCAI in the classroom? A: Adams:“ We learned a lot about how to use AI to benefit somebody because it’ s only as smart as the person using it. You can’ t just expect it to be smart for you. We came up with a lot of student-, teacher-, and school-based ideas on how to implement AI into the classroom in a manner that is both beneficial to the teacher and the student. Now we are narrowing them down to choose one to focus on.”

Q: How do you think HCAI can directly help school districts? A: Stelmack:“ My group project is based around how high schools schedule their classes. We developed an AI class scheduler, this is based on a students’ desired major, it will make a schedule using the school’ s Program of Studies. Students can enter other parameters such as‘ I need this number of AP classes, or I need a band course for marching band,’ and it makes a schedule for you. The way I tested it was to make a schedule for myself, and I got it to work. During scheduling, many students have questions for their counselors. This technology would allow the counselors to have more time to help students directly.”

Q: What is one thing you have learned that has really stuck with you? A: Carlisle:“ During the sessions, we’ ve learned valuable skills like teamwork, prototyping, leadership, and design empathy— which is a user-centered approach to designing in which it takes into account the specific needs and wants of a person.”

Q: What common misconceptions have you identified about HCAI? A: Jofre Leiva:“ Many people believe AI is here to replace them in their jobs. But I think that it’ s made to actually help people with their jobs and with what they’ re doing.

Human-centered AI is just a tool to help humans be more efficient, faster and better at their job.”

Q: What is a key takeaway about HCAI that you think people should know? A: McFall:“ It’ s a tool not a weapon. It’ s supposed to make AI more approachable. We want to take this existing tool and make it more accessible and specific to where it can be applied to teachers and students.”

Across projects, a common theme has emerged: AI is most valuable when it is specific, transparent, and guided by strong human judgment. As a faculty advisor for the project, McBurney shared that what he finds impactful is“ the fact that it is human-centered. It allows us to focus on the idea that AI doesn’ t just need to be for you or a personal task, it’ s better when you design something that is bettering other people.” When asked about the goal of re-envisioning education, he added,“ The first step, if you’ re designing something for education, is to know what problem you’ re trying to solve. As the student groups get

better at thinking about that and talking to stakeholders, they can take it to the AI and say,‘ Here’ s what we want to fix, and here’ s what we are going to develop.’”

Since the start of the school year, participants have visited several regional technology hubs, including the Manufacturing Futures Institute at Mill 19, Ansys, CMU’ s Integrated Innovation Institute, and Duolingo. The next session will take place at the CMU’ s Entertainment Technology Center. The project will culminate in a Shark Tank-style pitch event at the Manchester Craftsmen’ s Guild in April. The panel of judges will include school board members from each participating district and representatives from the program’ s funders.

At the mid-point of the project, students reflected on their experiences and the value of cross-district collaboration throughout this partnership. Working with new peers provided what one student described as“ a collection of experience,” offering new reference points for how different schools operate, think, and solve problems, ultimately leading to better ideas and less bias. Additionally, learning in and from regional technology leaders has deepened participants’ understanding of the industry. Students shared that the skills gained through this project, especially around human-centered design thinking, will benefit them in their future studies and careers.

West Allegheny School District is proud to be working closely with CMU and the participating school districts throughout this initiative and plans to secure funding to continue into future years.

CMU project leaders( left to right) Aslan Noorghasemi, Dr. Chris McComb, and Jessica Ezemba.

WEST ALLEGHENY ❘ SPRING 2026 31