Impact of Artificial Intelligence skill-up educational programme on youth unemployment mitigation for community development in Imo State

Youth are the largest active population of any nation, and they play substantial roles in achieving sustainable community development undertakings. However, some of the youth are underemployed, not in education, employment, or training (NEET). The study examined the impact of an artificial intelligence skill-up educational programme on mitigating youth unemployment for community development in Imo State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design, with a population of 6700 youth participants and a sample size of 469 selected using a proportionate sampling technique. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire titled “Artificial Intelligence Skill-up Educational Programme Questionnaire (AISEPQ)”. Mean, standard deviation, and analysis of variance were used for data analysis. The findings indicate that artificial intelligence has increased youth confidence in competing for digital job opportunities, enabled them to access remote work and other digital employment opportunities more easily, given them a competitive advantage over other job seekers in the digital labour market, improved their chances of securing gainful employment that is directly aligned with the current job demands, and opened up employment opportunities that were previously unavailable. The study concludes that artificial intelligence boosted young people's confidence in pursuing digital job opportunities, facilitated their access to remote work and other digital employment options. It recommends that the Federal Ministry of Youth Development (FMYD), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), sufficiently allocate resources for the transition period of the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions so that young people can meet the demands of a knowledge-based economy.