Today’s students are among the first few to grow up in a world with artificial intelligence. AI is heavily interwoven into our daily lives and is a big part of the future, so educating our kids on how it works is essential.
Why Should You Promote AI Learning?
AI education is closely related to STEM education and demands creative exploration by children. Introducing AI to children can also develop an aptitude for STEM learning and STEM careers in the future. Most of the careers you will find today incorporate AI. If you want your child to be future-ready, teach them more about AI early on.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can explore AI at home. Instead of the old rigid lesson plans, you can opt for engaging, interactive ways to explore what artificial intelligence is capable of.
1. Introduce them to AI
First, you should introduce children to AI. Be sure to ask them what they think AI is, as kids tend to over-imagine the possibilities AI offers. Try to keep it rooted in reality and explain how AI works.
In simpler terms, AI is a type of computer program that can perform tasks that demand human intelligence. This includes planning, problem-solving and even learning. You can then proceed with examples that demonstrate how AI works. Take the example of the simple game of Pac-man, the automated ghosts running around in the maze are all run by AI. Similarly, when they play football games, the opposing team characters are run by AI.
2. Offer Interactive Lessons
Kids learn best through hands-on experience. This is why you should incorporate interactive lessons to teach them about AI. You can use games, puzzles, or interactive tools to teach AI concepts. If you are unsure where to start, check out the fantastic online resources that teach children AI.
- Machine learning for kids is a website where kids are taught the basics of machine learning through engaging text, images, numbers, and sound.
- Experiments with Google is Google’s dedicated collection of experiments children can perform from home. Quick, Draw, Sketch-RNN Demos, and Teachable Machines are all great sources your children can experiment with.
- AI 4 Children is a dedicated education tool that teaches AI using some of the most popular programming languages from scratch.
3. Use Real-Life Examples
Instead of relying on online resources alone, use examples from your daily life to explain AI to kids. Maps and navigational resources, facial recognition in your phones, text autocorrects on your phone keyboards, chatbots, self-driving cars, and even the alarms and reminders you set are all supported by artificial intelligence.
4. Allow them to Experiment.
Next, allow your kids to experiment with artificial intelligence tools and software. For example, check out “Thing Translator.” Take a picture of something and this AI-powered tool will show you what to call it in a different language.
Similarly, you have this “Emoji Scavenger Hunt” that will allow you to quickly see the emoji version of daily objects around you. Allow your children to play around with these tools to better grasp what AI does in a fun way.
5. Make it Engaging!
One of the most important steps in teaching AI to your kids is to make it as engaging as possible. The more engaging and exciting AI learning is, the more involved your children will naturally become. You can incorporate fun games, challenges, and competitions to keep AI learning interesting.
So, there you go, now you know how to promote AI learning at home as a part of STEM education?