AI-Enabled Tools Show Promise in Upskilling National Security Workforce

Six teams received cash prizes from DARPA's "Building an Adaptive and Competitive Workforce" competition. The agency awarded $750,000 to kickstart and refine the solutions that showed the most promise in supporting adult learners in developing critical skills necessary for the current and future national security workforce.

The U.S National Defense Strategy has underscored the need to aggressively fill technology gaps in specialized areas such as cyber, data, and AI to creatively solve national security challenges in a complex global environment. Meanwhile, recent advances in AI have paved the way for computer-based tutoring systems that can personalize instruction in real-time based on learner responses. These AI tutoring technologies can significantly reduce the cost of high-quality tutoring, increasing access for all learners. This potential can benefit those in remote and self-directed learning environments, considerably improving learning success.

One of DARPA's core functions is to systematically drive down the risk of broader technology investment, development, and adoption by proving out the feasibility of key product insights. The competition approach provided the agency the opportunity to provide feedback to a range of promising proposals while funding seedling investments to potentially impactful technologies.

DARPA prioritized solutions that leveraged generative AI or large language models for teaching STEM¹ subjects to an adult population through digital platforms and AI tools to improve the learning experience and outcomes. A diverse judging panel from the philanthropy, research, industry, and education sectors evaluated participants on a scoring rubric that encompassed the following:

• Potential impact and likelihood to improve learning
• Attention to equity to support learning of historically marginalized populations
• Demand from adults, employers, and communities
• Ability to support rapid experimentation and continuous improvement
• Ability to scale to additional users and/or domains
• Team passion and readiness to execute
• Commitment to implement an assessment of their tool over the year following the grant

The winning solutions², through their proficient interaction with learners, dynamic learning plans, adaptive delivery of content, and improvement of the overall learning experience, have demonstrated their ability to significantly enhance the learning process. This enhancement is directly correlated with increased completion rates for coursework, thereby underlining the practical benefits of these solutions.

• Haiku, Inc. Game-based Training Simulator for 5G Technologies | Transform
  Haiku, Inc. plans to expand its accessible game-based platform to offer hands-on training in 5G wireless engineering skills to a diversity of learners and facilitate access to high-paying jobs in this sector.
• CrystalSTEM: STEM Microcredentials for Adult and Continuing Education | Growth
  CrystalSTEM is an interactive AI tool designed to help continuing education departments offer critical upskilling opportunities by analyzing local STEM skill needs, predicting skill trends, and recommending non-credit programs and microcredentials to address data science and STEM skill gaps. (link to Tools website)
• QuantHub Challenge | Growth
  The QuantHub Challenge is an AI-driven summative assessment platform that provides personalized, real-world data science challenges to enhance the skills and employability of adult learners.
• Scholé | Catalyst
  Scholé makes data science upskilling effortless for adult learners, supporting users with goal-setting, progress tracking, and study habit recommendations.
• Codesafe | Catalyst
  Codesafe is an adaptive computer science education platform that leverages AI and large language models to reinvent existing curricula with an increased focus on code comprehension and software security.
• HVAC Hero | Catalyst
  HVAC Hero aims to expand access to high-quality skilled trades training through personalized, simulation-based virtual learning experiences that prepare adult learners to enter the HVAC workforce.

"Rapid upskilling will maintain US strategic advantage across a variety of sectors by ensuring a broad and diverse workforce positioned to capitalize on emerging opportunities," said Dr. Wil Corvey, DARPA's program manager for the competition. "From this year's winners, we expect to seed the educational technology market with innovative products that show the economic promise of applications meeting critical STEM and data science educational needs, promoting further innovation and growth in this market."

DARPA's Building an Adaptive and Competitive Workforce was part of the Tools Competition - one of the largest education technology competitions of its kind - which has awarded $17.5 million to 130 edtech innovators across four cycles. This year's effort was DARPA's second collaboration with the Tools Competition. Click this link to view 2023's winners.

[1]The STEM acronym is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

[2]Award Category Breakdown:

• Transform Level, $300,000: These awards are designed for advanced competitors with an established tool.
• Growth Level, $150,000: These awards are designed for competitors with a tool with some users and scale.
• Catalyst Level, $50,000: These awards are designed for early-stage participants.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.