As artificial intelligence continues to be used in the workplace, Oklahoma educators want to prepare students for a future shaped by the technology.
A Pew Research Center survey found that about 1 in 5 U.S. workers now use artificial intelligence at work. As more than half of Americans worry about the expanding role of AI, schools across the state are focusing on how to teach students to understand and use the technology responsibly.
Broken Arrow High School is one of the first in the state to offer an entire course dedicated to artificial intelligence. The class launched at the beginning of the 2026 semester and is open to juniors and seniors.
“This course really focuses on what the tool is, what the technology is and what it looks like,” said Brandon Chitty, executive director of instructional technology and virtual programs for Broken Arrow Public Schools. “It’s about ethics. It’s about prejudice. It goes to the root of it and takes away the magic a little bit.”
About 150 students are currently taking the course, and district leaders say there are plans to expand AI education in the future.
Despite widespread concern about artificial intelligence, Chitty said he is optimistic about its role in education, especially in K-12 classrooms.
“We don’t want AI to take up the challenge,” Chitty said. “We want AI to be a partner in the challenge so that we can go even further. If it can change the starting position, we can actually go further in our tasks than where we started.”
Chitty said students are excited about the new class as they begin to think seriously about long-term careers and job prospects.
“At this age they start thinking about their future and how they will survive – what their livelihood will be,” he said.
That focus continues at the collegiate level. At the University of Oklahoma Polytechnic Institute, faculty members are teaching students the fundamentals of artificial intelligence as part of the state’s first bachelor’s degree program in applied artificial intelligence.
Associate Professor John Hassell said the program focuses on what AI can and cannot do.
“It’s not a robot. It’s not augmented reality. It’s not virtual reality,” Hassell said. “We’re learning the fundamental nature of AI, what it’s capable of and what it’s not. We call that the jagged frontier.”
Hassell said students will also learn how to integrate artificial intelligence into daily workflows and professional environments.
The applied AI program is in its first year and currently has about 15 students enrolled, although university leaders expect enrollment to grow. OU Polytechnic also offers degrees in related fields such as cybersecurity and software development.
Graduate student Daren Diaz said these programs are becoming increasingly valuable in the job market as employers seek workers with technical skills related to emerging technologies.
Hassell said the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence makes the field particularly attractive.
“AI is definitely an exciting frontier,” he said. “No one is an expert in everything related to AI. We are all trying to understand how AI can be used in our lives, no matter what we do.”
Educators say this is making some Oklahoma students pioneers in what could be the next big technological revolution.
