Can artificial intelligence help to bridge the gender-based digital divide in our future tech workforce?

That's exactly the goal of a brand-new initiative by global tech education nonprofit Technovation.

In January, Technovation announced "The AI Forward Allance".

The AI Forward Alliance challenges teams of girls, ages 8 - 18 , to use artificial intelligence to come up with an app that solves a real-world problem. (It's also a completely-free program, accessible to any educators, community organizations and youth leaders who'd like to download the curriculum!)

"Our thought was, 'why not bring all these voices together, to make sure women enter that global conversation around AI?'" explains Technovation Program Manager Abbey Mae Pitcher.

And the young participants have created some pretty incredible applications, addressing some of the real-world problems they've seen. Education, physical fitness, sustainability and entrepreneurship opportunities are just a few of the issues which their apps address.

Abby Mae shared the story of the AI Forward Alliance, talked about her creative journey as an educator working with Technovation and offered a preview of what's next!