Some argue that as AI becomes an increasingly prevalent part of our lives, schoolchildren should learn about it.
ADVERTISEMENTAs artificial intelligence (AI) disrupts society and becomes more and more present in our lives, technology experts say it should be introduced into schools, so that young people learn more about technology.
At an annual education technology conference in London, several companies showcased innovative products designed to teach children about technology and AI.
“I think AI is going to affect the world, no matter what industry you’re in,” said Ben Garside, head of learning at Raspberry Pi, a British charity set up to promote the study of AI. computer science.
“So rather than thinking I have to be a programmer, we want young people to think about what they’re interested in and really ask themselves, well, how is AI going to be able to support me in this role? We can so get there and think about what the future might look like. Get them excited rather than worried. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
The British Educational Training and Technology Show (BETT) is a trade show for teachers to discover the latest technologies and the benefits and challenges of integrating them into the classroom.
The UK’s latest national curriculum was published in September 2014, but there is no specific mention of AI.
“It’s important to teach this”
Roger Grogan, the founder of Jam Coding, believes that AI will be “fundamental” to children’s lives.
“We are at the very beginning of the AI movement. I would actually say we are still at the very beginning of the digital revolution. So we need to, as teachers in the classroom, constantly evolve what we teach. how we teach it,” Grogan said.
“AI is not specifically in the national curriculum, but there are mentions of technology that could refer to AI… So it is very important that we teach them about it and how they can use it” , he added.
The GO2 robot dog from Hong Kong-based 5G Nu Multimedia is designed to teach AI to primary school children.
It also has drones to teach students how to program flying drones in formation, which can be used for light shows or during fireworks displays.
He believes that teaching AI should start in primary school.
“For students, they should learn AI or its applications as soon as possible. So that’s the meaning of this whole course, that’s why we take the professional application and push it down to the elementary level at the earliest possible, starting with primary and then secondary school.” said Alan Chan, CEO of 5G Nu Multimedia.
Microsoft acquired Minecraft, a popular open-world game, from its Swedish developers and was keen to promote its educational benefits.
“Last year we created a game called Generation AI, which teaches children the principles and ethical uses of AI. So from a young age we want children to think about the responsible use of AI. “AI, to the principles behind it,” said Justin Edwards, Microsoft’s director of learning experiences for Minecraft.
“For example, fairness. What is fairness? How do we avoid bias? Why does AI potentially have bias and how can we avoid it? So we’re starting to teach kids not only how to use AI, but also to think about using AI in everyday life and how they could build on that. And we’re doing it in a play-based way,” Edwards added .
Dominika Gyanyi, head of education at Bookr, a Hungarian technology education company based in Budapest, believes it is important to become familiar with AI before children leave school.
“They know their pros and cons, so it should be integrated into our technology,” Gyanyi said.
ADVERTISEMENTBETT has been around since the mid-1980s when computers and technology began entering schools.
It attracts around 30,000 educators from around the world.
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Video Editor •Roselyne Min
