This post is also available in: العربية (Arabic)
Today’s generation has grown up surrounded by applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). From virtual assistants to recommendation engines on shopping websites, there’s hardly anything that they use which hasn’t been influenced by artificial intelligence. However, they’re unaware of what’s behind them or how they work. Understanding the fundamentals of artificial intelligence and machine learning is becoming increasingly important, especially for kids. Therefore, parents, teaching AI to kids becomes our responsibility to make them AI-ready for the future.
Best AI Learning Resources for Kids
In this article, we’re going to share with you some useful AI teaching resources for teaching AI to kids in an easy, interactive, and playful manner. Let’s have a look at them one by one.
1. Experiments With Google
One of the many things Google aces is spreading knowledge in an understandable and engaging way. Experiments with Google are no different. It is, as the website states, “a collection of experiments that teachers, students, and families are using to learn from home.” It consists of numerous simple yet interesting experiments for teaching AI to kids. eg. Teachable Machine makes machine learning for kids easy and fun by teaching them how to “train” models that can be used to make machine learning-based projects.
Below are just some of the Google AI Experiments:
Teachable Machine: Teachable Machine is an experiment in which you take pictures of an object or yourself. Then, after the machine or computer gains confidence, it will try to guess what pose you are doing by showing that image’s recognition gif or sound, or output. You will learn that how AI can recognize people or objects in different ways.
Quick, Draw!: Quick, Draw! is a game that tells you what to draw, and then it tries to guess what it is as you draw within 20 seconds. You will learn that AI can identify or learn to identify like humans.
Sketch-RNN Demos: Sketch-RNN Demos is a game that tells you to draw and the AI tries to guess what the next step is in your drawing by using other drawings before yours. You will learn that AI can help guess people’s drawings and be very predictive based on other data sources.
Semiconductor: Semi-Conductor is a game that allows you to conduct an orchestra by moving your arms in different directions—this was a lot of fun! You can manipulate a computer through my physical motions to control the outcomes.
Teachable Snake: Teachable Snake allows you to control a dot on the screen with a white piece of paper with a black arrow on it. You will learn that AI can recognize objects in different poses to move the objective.
Body, Movement Language: AI sketches with Bill T. Jones is a game where Bill T. Jones gives poses and you have to do the pose that he is doing. You will learn that AI is able to read people and their positions.
Rock, Paper, Scissors Machine: Rock Paper Scissors Machine is a machine that senses whenever your hands move into a rock, scissors, or paper sign. It then goes into the winning pose. You will learn that AI can sense when your hands move.
Cartoonify: Cartoonify is an experiment that allows you to upload a picture and then it will try to draw for you. You will learn that AI is able to take other pictures that you’ve seen and try to combine them to help draw your picture.
2. Teens in AI
Teens in AI is an initiative launched for the Good Global Summit at the UN in May 2018 to prepare the teens of today for a tech-ruled future by making them AI-ready. Teens in AI conducts meetups, hackathons for teaching AI to kids aged 12-18 by giving them “early exposure to AI being developed and deployed for social good.”
Teens in AI have a dedicated section for girls to inspire them and encourage them to take up technology by exposing them to artificial intelligence through events that they conduct across the globe.
3. Stardust Game
An interactive project powered by Google, TensorFlow Playground allows children to “tinker” with and visualize a neural network. From the ease of any browser, kids can play with and simulate, in real-time, changes made to the neural networks.
For Kids, TensorFlow Playground-inspired A.I. infused puzzle game, Stardust might be a great start!
STARDUST is an AI-infused educational puzzle game. Experience how beautiful and miraculous artificial intelligence can be by solving puzzles made up of mesmerizing stardusts.
You can colour nighty night stardusts by building your own artificial intelligence. Make your creative artificial neural network by experimenting with neurons. Traveling along the stardusts, soon will you realize that artificial intelligence is not scary or difficult, but actually marvelously intriguing.
The main features of this game include:
- 29 beautiful stardusts
- Mesmerizing graphics
- Relaxing sound design
- Increasing challenges a limited number of neurons and inputs, fixed intermediate neurons, limited training time, and more!
- Friendly explanation on how artificial neural network works
4. eCraft2Learn
The eCraft2Learn project developed a set of extensions to the Snap! programming language to enable children (and non-expert programmers) to build AI programs. The blocks are available as projects with examples of using the blocks as well as libraries to download and then import into Snap! or Snap4Arduino. It is possible to download the files needed to run most of the blocks and projects described here without an Internet connection.
You can import any of the libraries below into your projects. If you click on the “project” link you’ll open a project that illustrates the usage of the library.
- Enabling your sprites to speak in over a hundred languages.
- Enabling your sprites to listen to speech in over a hundred languages and to recognize sounds.
- Enabling your sprites to see using the camera.
- Enabling your projects to do arithmetic on words.
- Enabling your projects to create, train, and use deep learning neural networks.
- Miscellaneous AI blocks (style transfer, image embedding, and using Wikipedia, and more).
5. Apps for Good
Apps for Good is a UK-based not-for-profit that creates resources for teaching technology subjects, that they make freely available to schools.
Their Machine Learning course uses Machine Learning for Kids, and supplements it with a range of additional materials like schemes of work, lesson plans, student workbooks, presentations, and more. It makes it easy for schools to deliver ML lessons that put the coding exercises in context.
6. STEM Learning
STEM Learning and the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy have created resources for teaching the principles of artificial intelligence.
These resources include Machine Learning for Kids projects, supplemented with teaching notes, presentation materials, prompt cards, and practical “unplugged” activities.
7. YouTube
Apart from being your go-to place for the latest recipes, songs, movies, or cute dog videos, YouTube is an ocean of free knowledge. Just type in AI for kids and you’ll get hundreds of videos for teaching AI to kids in a hundred different ways.
The best thing about AI teaching videos on YouTube is that they are easy to understand and keep engaged. Here are a few of the good videos/video series on artificial intelligence for kids that teach them AI in an easy and engaging manner:
Microsoft Explanimators
Siraj Raval’s Artificial Intelligence for Kids
Crash Course in Artificial Intelligence
After searching for videos on artificial intelligence for kids quite a number of times, you’ll notice that YouTube itself starts suggesting videos for you instead of you having to look at them. This is artificial intelligence helping you learn artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are on the rise and are here to stay with us. Being the leaders of the future, it is important for 21st-century kids to understand and master AI and ML. The AI teaching resources that we’ve listed here are some of the best for teaching AI to kids in an engaging manner while ensuring that they develop the skills necessary to become AI-ready for the future.
