Kids & AI: A Guide To Prepare Them For The Challenges Ahead

Mark Berry is an enthusiastic freelance writer who enjoys putting his own twist on subjects such as career guidance, technology updates, entertainment, translation, and wellness. This is his first contribution to 21st Century Tech Blog.  Mark currently provides advice on career development, credit counselling, freelancing, and coaching for job interviews. His topic for today is how children will accommodate to AI and how we need to prepare them for a digital world.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intimidating to many people, let alone children. To explain it clearly to the latter, it is best to use real examples that kids understand. This can be accomplished using three simple steps:

1. Define AI
2. Provide good examples
3. Direct them to sites to investigate

Defining AI

AI is a computer program capable of accomplishing a task that requires intelligence. The type of tasks we are talking about are something a person or intelligent animal can do such as learning, planning, and problem-solving.

Provide Good Examples

The most relevant AI applications for children to understand are computer games. Children are adept at playing games, and it is most likely a popular activity for all ages. Take for example:

Pac-Man, unquestionably this game is a timeless classic and lots of fun. It needs no introduction to most children. The game set is a maze. The human player takes control of Pac-Man, whose mission is to consume all the dots within the maze while avoiding four different ghosts.

It’s worth noting that the four ghosts each have their personality governed by the AI built into the software. Binky, the red ghost, is the boss and always follows Pac-Man. Pinky, aptly pink, is sluggish but can predict Pac-Man’s moves to lay in ambush. Inky, the cyan ghost, is shy and follows Binky. Finally, Clyde, the orange ghost, is timid and flees as soon as Pac-Man approaches. 

Pac-Man is a basic game, but the AI’s actions may be seen and understood in practice. Most other computer games contain include similar AI capabilities. An AI controls the opposing team in computer football games like FIFA. Characters in simulation games like The Sims are also handled by AI. AI is pretty much in almost every game that children and adults play.

Help Children to Learn More Through Online Investigation

AI may very well be the most powerful technology ever invented by humans. Many in the field refer to it as the “new electricity.” And just like electricity, it can without knowledge prove to be potentially deadly. That is why children need to understand AIs strengths and limitations and learn to use it as a tool. 

There are numerous online resources for parents to introduce the subject to children. Search engines are a good place to start. A good article for parents to read that I found is entitled, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: A Guide for Parents, written by Nisha Talagala in 2019. It remains relevant today. It covers all the essentials including:

• What exactly is AI.
• AI neural networks versus biological intelligence
• .How AI learns compared to humans.
• The need for proper data to train AIs.
• What AIs excel at including image recognition, medical diagnostics, and gaming.
• What current AIs find challenging including understanding emotions, or dealing with unexpected events.
• AI challenges such as autonomous car decision-making.
• Whether AI poses a threat to human jobs.
• The use of AI in military applications.

How AI is Changing The Role of Teachers

According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025, many businesses will have adopted machine learning, a type of AI, to help them in the provision of services, the creation of products, and in promotion. That is why the business sector is turning to educators to develop curricula and skillsets focused on both STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) as well as non-cognitive soft skills. Microsoft has forecasted that advancements in AI will likely generate substantial disruptions within the global workforce, with automation replacing impacting 50% of jobs in the United States alone. 

That’s why it is important to get students working with AI as early as in elementary grades. Many children are already familiar with digital technology before beginning school which should make it easier to introduce the skillsets they will need in the digital workplace they will enter in the future.

Great links to visit include the Educational AI Resources for Children with a wealth of resources. For younger children try Bricks4Kidz. If businesses want to keep up the children try the Oxford Artificial Intelligence Programme. 

AI Nannies in Our Future

There has been much discussion about how robots will take over jobs and our lives. It has even gotten to the point where some are looking to hire them as nannies. Although I would not want a robot as a nanny for my children, the recent talk given by Bill Gates at AI Forward 2023, has the former co-founder of Microsoft talking about AI assistants in our and our children’s future. 

The qualities a robot lacks include emotion and empathy. A current state-of-the-art robot can carry out tasks it is trained to do. A Deep Learning robot can learn by studying vast amounts of unstructured data to teach itself. But having a nanny AI that is not living is not my ideal. Although a robot will always be on time, you won’t have to pay it, and it will always be accessible to fit with your schedule, these abilities do not outweigh the disadvantages.

Having said that, in China where there is a scarcity of nannies, don’t be surprised to see robotic versions soon. Chinese researchers are already putting robots in charge of looking after embryos in artifical wombs. Why not have them care for babies after birth?

A 2021 article appearing in Wired, entitled The Future of Robot Nannies, describes how children may learn to love an AI robot even when the latter isn’t programmed for emotional attachment to them. What the robot can do is read to a child, or determine how it feels by using algorithms designed to interpret facial expressions. 

Editor’s Note: Pepper, a robot from Softbank Robotics can do exactly what Mark describes in his last sentence of this posting. Is this getting creepy or what?