Preface to the Special Issue on K-12 AI Education

It is widely recognized that AI is beginning to profoundly impact society around the globe. These developments are introducing new opportunities, presenting new risks, and fundamentally reshaping the current and future workforce. As such, we must now answer critically important questions: How can we prepare K-12 students for an AI-permeated future? How do K-12 students conceive of AI and what do they need to know to be effective consumers of AI technologies? What competencies do K-12 students need to acquire to be prepared for workplaces where human-AI teaming is the norm? What do future knowledge workers, including but not limited to those in STEM, need to learn in primary and secondary school to set the stage for their careers, which will no doubt require the ability to effectively interact with AI tools? How can K-12 education best prepare future AI developers, engineers, and researchers? This special issue explores the emerging field of K-12 AI education research.