San José offers free AI workshops

San José has started free artificial intelligence workshops for residents, moving beyond City Hall training into public classes at the library. (smartcitiesdive.com) The first workshops were held April 8 at the city’s AI Center for Civic and Social Good, and the opening sessions focused on seniors using artificial intelligence in daily life and job seekers using it for resumes and interviews. (smartcitiesdive.com) The classes are part of San José’s AI for All program, a citywide effort backed by the Bay Area Council, OpenAI, Google and Anthropic through the San José Public Library. The Bay Area Council says the training is free, aimed at San José residents, and designed for adults with no prior artificial intelligence experience. (bayareacouncil.org) Artificial intelligence software predicts patterns or generates text, images or code from prompts, and San José is teaching residents how to use those tools for ordinary tasks before asking them to trust them. The city says its public courses include basics, safety and practical use, not just product demos. (sanjoseca.gov, bayareacouncil.org) San José announced AI for All on November 5, 2025, saying every resident would get access to free courses, training paths and certifications from major artificial intelligence companies. The city also said the material would be offered in multiple languages and made available at libraries and community centers for people without reliable internet access. (nbcbayarea.com) The workshops extend a broader city campaign to make San José “the most AI literate city in the nation,” a goal Mayor Matt Mahan tied last year to the risk that artificial intelligence could widen inequality if access stays concentrated in tech companies and high-skill workplaces. (nbcbayarea.com, govtech.com) San José has been building that strategy on two tracks: public instruction for residents and internal training for city workers. The city says staff use artificial intelligence for tasks such as drafting and translation, but not for final decisions on job applications, legal advice or emergency response. (sanjoseca.gov, sanjoseca.gov) The city has also tied artificial intelligence to municipal services, including real-time translation for City Council meetings and traffic work that it said increased transit bus speeds by 20 percent after signal-priority changes. Those examples give residents a concrete reason to learn the tools now, because the software is already showing up in public services as well as workplaces. (sanjoseca.gov, smartcitiesdive.com) San José says the same push comes with rules on privacy, bias and human oversight. Its policy bars city staff from letting artificial intelligence make actionable decisions such as approving a job application, and requires staff review before artificial intelligence-generated content is shared with the public. (sanjoseca.gov) More live sessions are planned through the library and online portal, with the Bay Area Council listing additional events after the April 8 launch. San José is betting that free classes, not just speeches about innovation, will decide who actually gets to use artificial intelligence. (bayareacouncil.org)