thanks for joining us on america tonight. i'm joie chen. this evening we look at the power of young women, young women who won't be limited by the obstacle that fate has put in their way. you and i might see the challenge of extreme poverty or a difficult home life or a physically debilitating disease and think, i can't overcome that. in our stories this evening, we meet young women who are defying

all of those restraints and still coming out on top. in southeastern wisconsin america tonight's liss sa fletcher met the most popular girl at school. >> ari is a celebrity. that's who ari is. >> she's extremely smart and overall she's a very sweet little girl. >> reporter: she's in the first grade. as her dad helps her get ready for school -- >> get your glasses on. >> reporter: things are noticeably different. >> are you ready? >> i'm so pumped up. >> all right! here we go! >> whoo! >> ari has what's calmed sma, spinal muscular aatrophy. it's a disease linked in with muscular dystrophy. basically her muscles will get weaker as time goes on. time is up. >> up, up, up. >> she, unfortunately, can't sit

up and can't walk and can't crawl. even breathing problems. she has a hard time breathing. >> reporter: despite her rare health condition, ari is still able to go to school with her peers. >> ari, what word did you write? >> dream. >> dream. nice job. >> this is how she sees her teacher. >> what's your word and ari's word? ruby. >> they both have long a sounds. >> this is how her teacher sees her. >> can you show me and hold up your fork. >> via a robot. the unit is basically an ipad securely mounted to the top of the device similar to a segue and ari kroets it remotely through a wifi connection. >> i think the cat is going to eat the mouse. >> very good. you are correct. >> its manufacturer double robotics originally came up with

the idea for telecommunicating professionals, that is until a couple of schools approached them with a few students who could only attend class from home. >> how did you change? what did you do? >> this gave ceo david conn an idea. >> they said this is something we need and it's a great solution for them and relatively low-cost solution compared to other things they were looking at. now we have over 350 robots deployed in schools in the u.s. >> did you name your double? >> uh-huh. robotica. >> now ari can talk to teachers and classmates via her robotica. >> they're very used to it at this point. if they're writing, she will sign in the robot and navigate the room and they'll look up and wave or smile. it's an everyday occurrence so they don't think differently and everybody does their jobs and

goes along with the routines of the day. >> i can ride around school with you today. >> whoo-hoo. >> i'm going to need you to teach me how to drive it. so there i was back in the first grade with my new pal, ari, and my very own robotica. >> we're going to follow ari to art. >> turn to your left. >> ari, you're way better at driving than i am. today ari let me spend a day with her in the classroom. >> this is lisa. say hi to lisa. >> hi, lisa. >> we're in art class getting our instructions. >> you have your drawings of your pictures. you can go ahead and pick your favorite one and paint it nice and big. >> while students work on their projects in class. which one are you drawing? ari draw simultaneously at home. when she's all done, they can show off her work. >> which one did you do? cool!

>> before robotica we used an ipad, and we had to have it on a little stand and carry it around, move it around, and you kind of needed somebody there. she had no control. sometimes she might be left at a table, and the group would mouf on and she's still be at the table. now she's in control of her lefrning. she can look at the teacher and her friends and go up and down. she really has the ability to do what most of the other students do. >> reporter: we head back to homeroom after art class, and ari leads the way. red tape on the classroom floor guides her to where she needs to go. she has no problem finding her way around. >> before she was an ipad. now she's somebody. she's got that presence there. she's free to roam. she's free to look where she needs to look. if she can't see the board right, she will move and maneuver that robot where she needs to look and get the teacher's attention rather than

just an ipad sitting on a desk somewhere. she's now, mrs. traileaylor, i feed her. >> gives her a voice in the classroom and when she talked about her day at the end of the day. when we ask her, she's excited to tell us what she experienced during the day. >> you're doing a great job. read page 11 to me. >> that's what. >> what this did is signaled for our teaching staff as well as the community and parents, hey, we'll do whatever it takes to make sure that your child or all kids have the opportunities they need to be successful. the teachers and their willingness to do those things, it's a blessing. that's why i'm proud. i'm proud of them. >> i hope, you know, other school districts look at it and say, hey, look. the impossible is not impossible. >> that's fun going to school with you. >> i want to do it again someday. >> okay. lisa fletcher, al jazeera, west

bend, wisconsin. another young woman making her way into the arena is next. they call her t-rex. in a moment amid all you've heard about flint, michigan's struggles her story is one for the record books. >> pushing the boundaries of science. >> we are on the tipping point. >> we can save species. >> it's the biggest question out there. >> it's a revolutionary approach. >> we are pushing the boundaries. >> techknow is going to blow your mind. >> our experts go inside the innovations, impacting you. >> this is the first time anybody's done this. >> i really feel my life changing. >> techknow, where technology meets humanity. only on al jazeera america.

the reports we've seen from flint, michigan recently reveal a city against the ropes struggling after an already beleaguered community learned that its water supply had been poisoned. while the city fights back to regain its health, a role model for flint's recovery is gearing up for her own return. a young woman who long punched over her weight and aiming to step back in the ring for a shot at the second olympic goal. sarah hoye meant clarissa shields. >> reporter: it's just after 10:00 in the morning, and clarissa is midway through her morning run. the 20-year-old is out training along saginaw street, passing a string of crumbling buildings

and liquor stores for a shot to defend her gold medal at the 2016 olympic games in rio. >> it's like any other african-american community with poverty. everyone wants to fight over that last dollar, that last nickel. >> the most famous female boxer is no stranger to the hard knocks of life. clarissa beat the odds. when she was younger, she says, her father was behind bars while her mother struggled with alcohol. she also says a family member abused her. >> i was raped and yes, i was molested as a young child. some people have the story that i was raped, and now i'm tough and i box. no, that's not it. me being raped has nothing to do with why i box. >> what do you want to define you, then? what defines you? >> overcoming my obstacle. resilience is the word. it doesn't matter what your father or mother is. they're not you. i haven't had the worst parents, but they're pretty close, i think.

you know, thank god, you know, that he blessed them to change, but as a young child i think the more things that go you through it builds character. >> here you had this dream of going to the olympics, getting a gold medal. sometimes success scares people and self-sabotages. was there a time when you were afraid of winning gold? >> yes, i was afraid of winning gold the last match. i knew i could beat the girl before i entered the ring. i just knew it. i remember thinking wow, all these people are going to come around who are just users and going to be trying to manipulate me and use me. i was like, if i get silver maybe there won't be so many. after that i just turned up. >> she stepped into the ring at age 11 and never looked back. at 17 she made history by wing the first gold medal in women's

olympic boxing during the 2012 games in london after being russia's fighter 19-12. when you won gold how did that feel? >> when he put that medal around any neck, if you -- you have to look it up because i started to shake because i'm like, wow, i had a picture of the gold medal in my phone. to have it around my neck, to touch it, it was so big and so heavy. i was just like, whoo, a lot of hard work for this medal. it was worth it to me. >> she's already qualified for the 2016 olympic trials. it's a tough road for women boxers even if you win gold. there was no wheaties box with a face on it or any major endorsements. >> manny pacquiao and mayweather. >> there haven't been star-studded bouts that earn millions for the prize fighters. yet, she caught the attention of film makers.

>> i had this dream. >> who premiered the documentary "t-rex" chronicling her life story. >> i mean, they say the first woman olympian at 165 pounds is clarissa shields! >> she recently launched a gofundme to raise money to cover training expenses for her her second olympic run. >> i think my dream will become their dream. we can all live the dream together. i'm the only one that has to get hit. >> since winning gold, she left her long-time coach to join forces with flint native. now it's run, rest, train, and repeat. >> you see she developed into being the world champion. she's a great fighter. she's determined to win. i mean, everything about her. i mean, it's all the fittings of

a champion, and that's why she is the champ. >> between workout sessions, clarissa stops by her sister michelle's house for a quick visit with family before hitting the road for more training over the next couple of weeks. >> clarissa is very determined. i think when a person is so determined and focus on what you want in life, you aim for it and achieve it. that's what clarissa is doing and accomplished it. all i ask her is all the trials and tribulations she's been through, coming from where we came from, living in flint, michigan, i'm just really proud of her. >> i want people to know that i'm not cocky. i'm confident and i'm a hard worker. follow me to rio 2016 so we can do it again. two times. >> sarah hoy, al jazeera, flint, michigan. shields must still fight her way to the last step of qualifying, but will be one to watch in rio. another young woman bringing

her fight into the ring, and the unbelievable hurdles she's faced to get there is next. find fantasy shows.

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>> one.

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on target tonight robots in the workplace, cyber war between nations and designer babies. our digital future and how it will change the way we live. get ready because the future is coming. how many times have you heard that? now you hear a lot about a so-called fourth industrial revolution. that's already upon us, by the way. this revolution was undo the global industrial economy, which has underpinned the advances made by human society for more than 200 years. replacing the old model will be a global digital economy fueled by advances in information technology, data crunching, automation and robotics as well as advances in genetic and biological sciences. that's a lot, but to really understand the gravity of what i'm talking about, it is useful to go back in history and see