RAI Workshop Series — Building AI Preparedness through Intergenerational Dialogue, Experiential Learning and Cross-Sector Collaborations

As generative AI reshapes education, work, public services, and civic life, preparedness and understanding of risks remains uneven, particularly in communities most affected by these shifts – older adults, youth, creative professionals, immigrants, and low-income residents. Joint Family, a Cambridge-based social initiative, is responding to this urgent gap through an unconventional yet effective model grounded in intergenerational, cross-disciplinary dialogue, as a first step toward building trust, resilience, and collective agency around AI.

Since 2024, Joint Family has convened over 35+ community-centered sessions reaching more than 400 participants across Greater Boston. By creating inclusive learning spaces where technologists, educators, creatives, decision makers and community members can engage, these workshops provide a unique opportunity to integrate technical expertise with lived experience. Through interactive, hands-on programming, participants connect, learn and deliberate on real world implications of AI, including deep fake scams, cyberbullying, algorithmic bias, job disruption, environmental harms, and the mental health impacts of digital companions. Our programs empower attendees to critically and thoughtfully engage with the ethical challenges, benefits and risks posed by this rapidly evolving technology.

Community volunteers and cross-sector partnerships are integral to this work. Through a multi-semester collaboration with Northeastern University’s Community Engaged Teaching and Research program, students in ENGW 3314 & JRNL 3460, have translated insights from our workshops into accessible multimedia educational resources tailored for our intergenerational audiences. Similarly, we have partnered with the Racial Justice and Tech Policy program (RJxTP) at Brandeis University and MIT’s Constructive Communication Center to bring expertise from academia and tech to public conversations on AI. Such partnerships link emerging technology, creativity, experiential learning, and civic engagement, generating actionable insights into how communities, experts and students can learn with and about generative AI. In parallel, Joint Family is collaborating with multiple elder-care agencies and non-profit organizations in Greater Boston to co-develop curricula for staff and the communities they serve, focused on digital safety, responsible AI frameworks and ways to leverage technology to strengthen social connection.

This presentation will share data-driven findings, community insights, collaborative methods, and practical tools for designing inclusive and holistic AI literacy initiatives, offering a replicable civic engagement model for advancing equity, trust, and AI preparedness in Greater Boston and beyond.

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