Writing for Congress Tonko turns Shaker grad’s idea for artificial intelligence instruction in schools into bill that was added to nation’s annual defense bill./
2019 Tonko meeting led to legislation
In July 2019, Nathan Wang, a student at Shaker High School, walked into the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko and dropped off a legislative proposal he wrote to expand artificial intelligence education in K-12 schools.
Wang thought the congressman and his staff would take one look at his proposal and toss it in the heap. But to his surprise, Wang got a call from a legislative aide a month later asking for a meeting.
Tonko, D -Amsterdam, turned Wang ’s idea into a bill and recently, members of Congress decided to add the student’s idea to the nation’s annual defense bill with the hope that spurring the next generation of artificial intelligence engineers would help increase national security and U.S. military strength.
“Just two years ago, if you had told me that I would be writing a piece of legislation that an actual member of Congress would actually consider, I would not have believed you,” said Wang, 18, a freshman at Johns Hopkins University. “I was certainly not interested in policy stuff, nor did I think I had the confidence to approach anybody on these policy issues. So I’m really, really grateful.”
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act, including Wang ’s provisions, on Tuesday by a vote of 335 to 78. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next.
President Donald J. Trump informed Congress that he intends to veto the bipartisan defense bill because it does not contain a provision he’s seeking to eliminate liability protections for social media companies for content and speech on their sites. Lawmakers of both parties have argued that the defense bill is not the venue to make major internet policy changes and will attempt to override Trump’s veto if necessary.
On Monday, Tonko called Wang, who is studying biomedical engineering and applied mathematics remotely from his Latham home, to let him know his proposal would be in the NDAA. The legislation directs the National Science Foundation to offer grants to schools and other organizations to increase access to artificial intelligence education for K-12 students. The bill also expands eligibility for scholarships for college undergraduates in science, technology, math and engineering if they go into K-12 education.
“His vision, his sensibilities, will lead to a more empowered workforce as we go forward and make us as a nation much more competitive on the international scene,” said Tonko, who is one of about a dozen engineers serving in Congress.
Wang took calculus as a freshman in high school at Hudson Valley Community College and progressed into multivariable calculus courses and other mathematics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As he learned more about artificial intelligence, Wang realized other students did not need so much advanced calculus to understand the basics of artificial intelligence and appreciate its applications — or even to develop their own uses of it. The idea for his legislation was born.
In 2019, Wang participated in the American Legion’s New York Boys State, an education program that teaches high school students about the operations of government. He was elected governor of New York Boys State by his peers on the platform of artificial intelligence education. Then, he was one of 100 boys from around the country selected for the 2019 Boys Nation, held in Washington, D.C.
While he was in D.C. for Boys Nation, Wang found his way to Tonko’s office and handed over his proposal, determined to turn his idea into a real law. He also tried to pitch his idea to other members of Congress but none responded.
With his own artificial intelligence knowledge, Wang was one of 1,800 students from across the world who competed in the 2019 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Ariz., where he presented his project on an application of artificial intelligence for tumor treatment and was selected as a finalist, he said. He and a team of other students also competed in the Stanley Black and Decker and Discovery Making for Good Challenge, where they won second place and $10,000 for their project using deep learning to upgrade CT scan imaging. He presented another group project on a fishing pole that would prevent over-fishing at the Spellman HV Clean Tech Competition. He won a $200 grant to develop a prototype and $1,000 in prizes.
Wang said his educational inspiration came from his father, Ge Wang, a professor at RPI and director of RPI’S biomedical imaging center. Ge Wang grew up in rural China without formal elementary or secondary education, but taught himself math and physics through the help of three elder friends, despite the ongoing Cultural Revolution. He eventually completed undergraduate studies in China before coming to New York to complete his doctor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
“He told me a bunch of these stories, mostly when we went on walks together,” his son said. “The opportunity that is given to me, the knowledge that is so readily available — to me it’s a very real family connection to know that it should not be taken for granted.”