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How to talk to young people about AI<\/h2>\n
Absorbing media and assimilating it into your existing knowledge is a challenge, and this is a concern when the media is full of big, scary headlines about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over the world, stealing jobs, and being sentient. As teachers and parents, you don\u2019t need to know all the details about AI to answer young people\u2019s questions, but you can avoid accidentally introducing alternate conceptions. This article offers some top tips to help you point those inquisitive minds in the right direction.<\/p>\n
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AI is not a person<\/h2>\n
Technology companies like to anthropomorphise<\/a> their products and give them friendly names. Why? Because it makes their products seem more endearing and less scary, and makes you more likely to include them in your lives. However, when you think of AI as a human with a name who needs you to say \u2018please\u2019 or is \u2018there to help you\u2019, you start to make presumptions about how it works, what it \u2018knows\u2019, and its morality. This changes what we ask, how much we trust an AI device\u2019s responses, and how we behave when using the device. The device, though, does not \u2018see\u2019 or \u2018know\u2019 anything; instead, it uses lots of data to make predictions<\/a>. Think of word association: if I say \u201cbread\u201d, I predict that a lot of people in the UK will think \u201cbutter\u201d. Here, I\u2019ve used the data I\u2019ve collected from years of living in this country to predict a reasonable answer. This is all AI devices are doing.\u00a0<\/p>\n [AI] does not \u2018see\u2019 or \u2018know\u2019 anything; instead, it uses lots of data to make predictions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n When talking to young children about AI, try to avoid using pronouns such as \u2018she\u2019 or \u2018he\u2019. Where possible, avoid giving devices human names, and instead call them \u201ccomputer\u201d, to reinforce the idea that humans and computers are very different. Let\u2019s imagine that a child in your class says, \u201cAlexa told me a joke at the weekend \u2014 she\u2019s funny!\u201d You could respond, \u201cI love using computers to find new jokes! What was it?\u201d This is just a micro-conversation, but with it, you are helping to surreptitiously challenge the child\u2019s perception of Alexa and the role of AI in it.<\/p>\n Where possible, avoid giving devices human names, and instead call them \u2018computer\u2019, to reinforce the idea that humans and computers are very different.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Another good approach is to remember to keep your emotions separate from computers, so as not to give them human-like characteristics: don\u2019t say that the computer \u2018hates\u2019 you, or is \u2018deliberately ignoring\u2019 you, and remember that it\u2019s only \u2018helpful\u2019 because it was told to be. Language is important, and we need to continually practise avoiding anthropomorphism.<\/p>\n The media plays a huge role in what we imagine when we talk about AI. For the media, the challenge is how to make lines of code and data inside a computer look exciting and recognisable to their audiences. The answer? Robots! When learners hear about AI taking over the world, it\u2019s easy for them to imagine robots like those you\u2019d find in a Marvel movie. Yet the majority of AI exists within systems they\u2019re already aware of and are using \u2014 you might just need to help draw their attention to it.<\/p>\n Even better than just calling out uses of AI: try to have conversations about when things go wrong and AI systems suggest silly options.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n For example, when using a word processor, you can highlight to learners that the software sometimes predicts what word you want to type next, and that this is an example of the computer using AI. When learners are using streaming services for music or TV and the service predicts something that they might want to watch or listen to next, point out that this is using AI technology. When they see their parents planning a route using a satnav, explain that the satnav system uses data and AI to plan the best route.<\/p>\n Even better than just calling out uses of AI: try to have conversations about when things go wrong and AI systems suggest silly options. This is a great way to build young people\u2019s critical thinking around the use of computers. AI systems don\u2019t always know best, because they\u2019re just making predictions, and predictions can always be wrong.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a delicate balance between acknowledging the limitations of AI and portraying it as a problematic tool that we shouldn\u2019t use. AI offers us great opportunities to improve the way we work, to get us started on a creative project, or to complete mundane tasks. However, it is just a tool, and tools complement the range of skills that humans already have. For example, if you gave an AI chatbot app the prompt, \u2018Write a setting description using these four phrases: dark, scary, forest, fairy tale\u2019, the first output from the app probably wouldn\u2019t make much sense. As a human, though, you\u2019d probably have to do far less work to edit the output than if you had had to write the setting description from scratch. Now, say you had the perfect example of a setting description, but you wanted 29 more examples, a different version for each learner in your class. This is where AI can help: completing a repetitive task and saving time for humans.\u00a0<\/p>\n To help children understand how AI and humans complement each other, ask them the question, \u2018What can\u2019t a computer do?\u2019 Answers that I have received before include, \u2018Give me a hug\u2019, \u2018Make me laugh\u2019, and \u2018Paint a picture\u2019, and these are all true. Can Alexa tell you a joke that makes you laugh? Yes \u2014 but a human created that joke. The computer is just the way in which it is being shared. Even with AI \u2018creating\u2019 new artwork, it is really only using data from something that someone else created. Humans are required.\u00a0<\/p>\n Overall, we must remember that young children are part of a world that uses AI, and that it is likely to be ever more present in the future. We need to ensure that they know how to use AI responsibly, by minimising their alternate conceptions. With our youngest learners, this means taking care with the language you choose and the examples you use, and explaining AI\u2019s role as a tool.<\/p>\n To help children understand how AI and humans complement each other, ask them the question, \u2018What can\u2019t a computer do?\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n These simple approaches are the first steps to empowering children to go on to harness this technology. They also pave the way for you to simply introduce the core concepts of AI in later computing lessons without first having to untangle a web of alternate conceptions.<\/p>\n This article also appears in issue 22 of Hello World, which is all about teaching and AI. Download your free PDF copy now<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re an educator, you can use our free Experience AI Lessons<\/a> to teach your learners the basics of how AI works, whatever your subject area.<\/em><\/p>\n The post AI isn\u2019t just robots: How to talk to young children about AI<\/a> appeared first on Raspberry Pi Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Young children have a unique perspective on the world they live in. They often seem oblivious to what\u2019s going on around them, but then they will ask a question that makes you realise they did get some insight from a … Continue reading ![\"Child](\"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/bruce-mars-p4e4y4J7H4k-unsplash-500x333-1.jpg\")
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AI isn\u2019t just robots (actually, it rarely is)<\/h2>\n
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AI complements humans<\/h2>\n
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\nSource: Raspberry Pi – AI isn\u2019t just robots: How to talk to young children about AI<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"