Reality of Artificial Intelligence for Kids – 2020 Year In Review #10

I hope you have been enjoying reading this series of posts on the Year In Review 2020. In an earlier post, I reflected upon the controversy relating to coding for kids. We examined the question of whether kids should code or not. In this post, we will look at yet another hyped topic of recent times. We will unveil the reality of artificial intelligence for kids during 2020.

Quick Backdrop

As I mentioned in the earlier post on To Code or Not To Code, the perception of people varies according to their experiences. Consequently, knowing about one person’s experiences helps the other person appreciate their perspective. So, here is a quick background that will help you understand my vantage point when it comes to looking at my version of reality of artificial intelligence for kids during 2020.

My Son – From Programming to Robotics

I spoke a little bit in the earlier post about my son and how we started programming few years ago, while he was in middle school. However, since he was more interested in mechanical and physical sciences, he branched off to robotics in middle school itself. He hasn’t dived deeper into Artificial Intelligence, yet, even though he is in Standard XI now.

My Daughter – From Curiosity to AI

If my son’s example sounds like the quintessential left brained child, my daughter is a creative and perceptive soul. As you can imagine, she prefers creative arts and psychology over programming. This year her school offered her a choice to study either Computer Science or Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Standard IX.

Computer Science would have continued on the traditional journey, delving into basic applications of computers. AI definitely seemed more cutting edge and certainly for those with a preference for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields. To our surprise, she chose to study AI, although she was not in love with either Mathematics or Programming.

My Tryst with AI

I am fascinated by the world of numbers and decoding the patterns that are hidden beneath the surface. Consequently, after getting my son started off with programming and robotics, I branched off into AI. Despite the lack of any technical background, I developed solutions involving several use cases of AI. Some of these were even recognized for innovation across Asia Pacific by Financial Times.

The Reality of Artificial Intelligence for Kids in 2020

However, this post is not about AI for adults, although several principles will apply to them also. So, let us uncover a few aspects related to the reality of artificial intelligence for kids in 2020. I will examine this through a couple of experiences that I have had during the year.

AI for kids introduced in school

The first experience relates to CBSE (the most popular Indian education board) introducing AI in Class IX. Artificial Intelligence was introduced as an optional subject for my daughter this year and she could opt for either Computer Science or AI. Interestingly, her school only allowed students with over 85% marks to opt for AI.

While Computer Science would have taken them down the path of popular applications from the Microsoft Office Suite, AI broadened their horizons. The course has introduced them to the history of AI and the basic concepts involved.

Artificial Intelligence – an extension of human intelligence

The course teaches children about the various aspects of human intelligence. It then helps the students examine the various branches of AI and how they relate to natural intelligence.

It appears to me that this is a much better approach than how most adults are introduced to AI. The typical approach we take is to get straight to the statistical, algorithms and data science related aspects of AI. Surely, we can take a leaf out of the kids’ books and devote more time to a conceptual understanding of the subject. This will also help real world practitioners to derive more business value from their investments in AI.

Coding Required?

Following on from the debate of whether kids should code, the course has taken an interesting approach. The focus is more on explaining the concepts around AI, rather than coding AI algorithms. The course does introduce the students to Python, but they are not expected to harness the data science libraries within Python. This appears to be a rather well-balanced view of what to expect from someone at that age.

AI and Creative Thinking

Another aspect that we pondered upon in the earlier post on coding for kids was about the relationship between creativity and coding. On a similar vein, some aspects of how AI is taught in schools encourage the children to think creatively.

For instance, the practical assessment in AI did not involve creating an AI model. Instead, it focused on their ability to think creatively of potential applications of AI. This was a great approach, since the kids did not have the basic building blocks to create AI models as part of the Practical Assignments and Assessments. It was also good to see a welcome departure from encouraging rote learning, to thinking about creative solutions.

AI experience on Discord

The second exposure to the reality of artificial intelligence for kids during 2020 happened rather unexpectedly, when I joined Discord. Discord is an instant messaging platform, designed for creating communities and very popular with gamers, because the instantaneous voice transmission is awesome. Since both my kids had accounts on Discord, I thought of checking in to explore the platform.

Since, I am not big on gaming, I joined a community – Learn AI Together – and the subsequent turn of events stunned me.

Queries on how to learn AI

I saw some queries from people on how to learn AI. I thought of helping out, since I owe a lot to the internet resources that helped me learn the tricks of the trade. During the conversation, it became clear that the person at the other end did not know much about the basic underlying skills required. I asked him about his background and was surprised to know that he was a middle school student.

This was followed by other queries on Discord by multiple middle schoolers wanting to know how to learn AI. Some had even started programming in Python and were trying to figure out how to use the same Data Science libraries that are used by professionals. They were certainly struggling in their journey and sought help!

Look who is responding

Well, that was not the last of my surprises. I saw one of the users very actively responding to these queries. The tone and the subject matter knowledge appeared to be that of a professional. One day, he posted a video about how to configure and customize multi-layered Neural Networks, a technically advanced subject. Out of curiosity, I clicked through and was in for my biggest surprise. At the other end was a young boy, probably in his early teens! And, he was dealing with the extremely technical subject with utmost confidence!

Building Blocks

It reminded of the controversy around the aggressive marketing practices for kids coding classes that we examined in an earlier post. This boy would have made an ideal role model for organizations wanting to sell AI classes to middle schoolers!

Thankfully, this has not started happening, yet. Or, at least I am blissfully unaware of such practices. However, let me pre-empt such incidents and inform you that one needs to have the basic building blocks in place before we learn or teach higher level blocks. The study of AI requires several such building blocks, many of which are not even initiated until students complete high school education.

Exceptions prove the rule and there will always be exceptions. The image of a 13 year old exhibiting deep understanding of AI models is not a model that we all need to replicate.

Reality of Artificial Intelligence for Kids and Outlook for 2021

We have seen diverse examples that give us a glimpse of the reality of artificial intelligence for kids during 2020. So, where does this leave us and the kids? From my perspective, I would like to conclude with two pointers.

Firstly, each person is unique and their journey should be planned in light of their own abilities, experiences and interests. We are living in a world of limitless opportunities in so many diverse areas. With the right guidance, we can find our passion.

Secondly, we read about the school of thought that felt that because software is omnipresent, coding should be an essential skill. The same arguments can be extended to AI by this school of thought. My answer continues on the same lines as the earlier post. Conceptual understanding of something that is all around us and is increasing in importance is definitely required. However, this does not mean that we all need to be technically skilled AI practitioners.

So, let us work on increasing our children’s conceptual understanding of all such technologies that have a bright future. Let us enhance our AI Quotient without worrying about transporting the kids from their world to another, for which they are clearly not ready. Let us recognize the reality of artificial intelligence for kids in 2020 and plan for 2021 and beyond in accordance with the same.

Year in Review 2020

Check out the master article for the Year in Review 2020 that contains links to all the other posts in the series. Also, bookmark the master article on the browser to read more about each of the 20 thoughts from 2020 and lessons for 2021.

About The Author

Rajiv Maheshwari is a business and start-up advisor, and the co-founder of From The Experts Mouth. He is a management professional with over 25 years of experience, and worked as CEO for a decade, and in leadership roles with NYSE listed companies such as Accenture and WNS.

He is a Chartered Accountant and MBA (Director’s Merit List from IIM Bangalore) and an autodidact, who is on the path of self-directed life long learning and sharing. He is a thought leader, author and keynote speaker and has developed several frameworks to bridge the gap between academia and industry.