This South Florida city offers free course to encourage residents to learn AI

Entertainment Florida Politics Miami Gardens - Opa-locka admin July 7, 2026 0 Comments

This South Florida city offers free course to encourage residents to learn AI

As AI and data centers concern some Black communities, one South Florida city is looking for ways to equip residents with AI so they won’t feel left behind from the AI growth cities are seeing.

Residents in Miami Gardens looking to learn more about AI and its uses will have the opportunity to do so through a new partnership with St. Thomas University. Through the college, the city is offering a free Applied Generative AI Course with the hopes it will prepare residents for AI usage in their professional and daily lives.

The classes are a part of the city’s ongoing efforts to train residents in different areas under their Miami Gardens City University programming, which provides educational opportunities for residents to earn a trade and get workforce training.

“We’re whetting the appetite of what AI is all about, and how they can leverage it in their day-to-day lives, whether that’s using it for resume writing or something they might need for their small business,” said Sherman Gant, the city’s director of educational development.

The course comes two months after the city held a daylong expo about AI and at a time when Black communities are leery of AI and are concerned about the onslaught of data centers cropping up in their communities. In Westview, a neighborhood just south of Opa-locka, residents grew concerned after learning an AI data center was in their backyard, raising worry about the health impacts to the neighborhood. In Florida, 110 data centers were listed as operational across the state, including 27 in Miami-Dade County, according to Data Center Map, which tracks data centers in the United States.

RELATED: ‘Hiding in plain sight’: An AI-ready data center is coming to a Miami neighborhood

A McKinsey & Company study released in late 2023 noted that the Black workers were increasingly concerned about their jobs being displaced by AI and automation. The study also found AI growth at its current pace could further widen the wealth gap between Black and white households.

Miami Gardens Commissioner Robert Stephens III said AI is already here, but there has to be “a trust factor” that allows residents to be open to the idea of AI and potential benefits, pointing to the expo the city had earlier this year on the subject.

“The biggest concern now is how to use it, how to be effective, how to take the tools and apply it to our everyday life and make it work for us and being able to create these spaces and opportunities continue to ease the concerns and uncertainties for the community,” he said.

Throughout the class, residents will get an introduction to artificial intelligence, learn what generative AI is, prompt engineering fundamentals and learn how they can leverage AI usage in their businesses or everyday lives. The initial classes are capped at 25 residents, but Gant said he is already working with the university on another cohort.

“I just want residents to move from being conscious observers to more AI-informed decision makers,” he said. “So, not afraid of the technology, but embracing it, and just applying it where possible.”

READ: More AI data centers are coming to South Florida. Could one open near you?

Stephens said he wants residents to be prepared for when AI “eventually takes over” and we’ll be forced to use it.

“Right now it’s optional. Right now we have the choice. Right now we have the option, but the way the society is going, major corporations, our everyday needs and necessities – AI is eventually going to take over, and we want to make sure that residents are equipped with the basic necessities, so that they’ll be able to be equipped with the skill sets that they need to handle AI.”