INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – For Acadia Holve, 14, and her sister, Alora, 12, a future dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) appears to be imminent.

Often described as “the train you can’t stop”, the AI boom can be seen nearly everywhere we turn. Record-breaking private investments, spikes in technology stocks, the alteration of assignment formats in schools, massive infrastructure investments like data centers – the train is on the tracks.

This is why Acadia and Alora decided to set out on a mission to create a cohesive platform where they could share and talk with experts in their field about the changes AI has made already, and what the future looks like for youth growing up in a conceivably AI-dominated job market.

Thus, “Paths of Curiosity” was born. 

“The point of creating this podcast is so that I, and my listeners, can understand how AI is shaping careers right now,” said Acadia. “When I was looking at ‘How are careers going to change? Are some going to go away? Are we going to need different careers, different skill sets?’ There wasn’t a ton of information out there.”

Although the target audience of the podcast is catered towards high school students – “before they pick a certain career or degree that could potentially be taken over by AI,” the platform provides interesting and informative content for adults too. It also has additional free resources for students, parents, teachers, and even college advisors. 

Materials such as an interactive Career Landscape Map can be used in advisory sessions before students decide on their major. “Paths of Curiosity” additionally offers educator guides with discussion prompts and activities, downloadable worksheets, a student self-discovery quiz called “What’s Your Spark?”, and more.

The podcast episodes are separated into a mini-series format. There are four quarters representing four categories, and within each quarter are seven episodes. The first six episodes are with six different speakers who are leaders in their career fields within that category, and the seventh episode is a recap of key insights discussed between the two sisters and what they’ve discovered throughout the course of the quarter. In addition to discussions about AI, episodes explore how certain career fields can actually pivot into others.

The quarters are:

Q1: “Mind, Body, and Living Systems” – explores AI in healthcare with six guests including Dr. Christopher Longhurst, Chief Executive Officer at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Julia Adler-Milstein, Professor and Founding Chief of the University of California, San Francisco’s Division of Clinical Informatics and Digital Transformation.

Q2: “Power, Law, and Civic Life” – discussions centered around how AI affects ethics and our governing laws. Included in the lineup of six speakers are Nathan Wessler, Deputy Director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s speech, privacy and technology projects, as well as Dr. Ramesh Srinivasan, Professor at UCLA and Founder of Digital Cultures Lab.

Q3: “Data, Behavior, and Human Systems” – Dr. Syon Bhanot, Associate Professor of Economics at Swarthmore College, Dr. Kentaro Toyama, co-founder of Microsoft Research India, and other leading speakers discuss topics related to economics, psychology and decisions.

Q4: “Engineering, Science, and Discovery” – a deep dive into careers centered around infrastructure, energy, space, and robotics. Speakers are to be announced soon. 

“One thing that’s really cool is having discussions with these people. I feel like I have grown, especially in my interviewing skills, and it’s really fun to see my personal growth,” said Acadia. “A lot of these topics are truly fascinating. As I get more comfortable, I’m really enjoying listening to what they have to say.” 

From careers studying deep fakes to research on algorithms, power and democracy, each episode provides a unique career perspective and a plethora of knowledge, experience and advice.

“Watching [Acadia] is making me feel like I can be a better speaker. For me, it was really interesting to learn how to edit,” said Alora who for the past several months has been behind the scenes, researching, editing, and working on the project’s visual design.

While coordinating when and where the two can work on their massive project is a breeze due to the convenience of being sisters, getting experienced and highly-reputable guest speakers onto their podcast comes with consistency and a strategy for networking. 

“My strategy is honestly just cold emails and outreaching. I look into these people, who might be the best, draft 10, 20, 30 emails for each slot, send them out and hope I get replies,” said Acadia. “It’s so amazing, because you get a ton of ‘no’s’, or most of the time you don’t hear anything back, but it’s so cool how many people respond with ‘yes’ and are willing to come on.”

The Holve sisters have big goals for “Paths of Curiosity”. The extensive platform seems to be coming together seamlessly as they have been working hard to iron out the logistics of their website, creating and editing their content, and networking with potential guests. Sights are now set on distribution with hopes of bringing the platform into schools.

The podcast takes on neither an optimistic nor pessimistic view of AI, but leaves it up to the audience to decide. 

“There’s so many great points that come up across all the episodes,” said Acadia. “One is that you have to learn how to pivot in this world, because in a couple of years, the world will be completely different.”

Acadia and Alora are learning that shying away from AI is not really an option. “It’s already connected to our world, it’s in our world and it’s not going to just disappear. You have to learn how to use it.”

Through “Paths of Curiosity”, listeners can learn how to be prepared for the AI train chugging along career paths and inserting itself into our plans for the future, whether we like it or not.

“Paths of Curiosity” is available on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. All episodes in quarter one are complete, and quarter two is currently airing.

To learn more, view resources or to start listening, visit pathsofcuriosity.com.