Guest Author Roozbeh Aliabadi is CEO at ReadyAI
Our children have the right to be AI-educated so they can thrive intellectually, emotionally, and morally alongside AI. In the next decade or so, for most children, AI will be their co-workers, drivers, insurance agents, customer service reps, bank tellers, receptionists, radiologists, in short, a natural part of their lives. That’s why I am proud of our collaboration with Cloudera in making A Fresh Squeeze on Data – A picture book about problem-solving with DATA that encourages children worldwide to transform from passive spectators of technology disruption to active participants of positive change in their local communities and the world.
We owe it to our children to help them understand and utilize the powerful tools of AI and thoughtfully weigh its moral and social implications early on. And this is what A Fresh Squeeze on Data is all about.
Coming out of more than a year of change and uncertainty, there’s one thing we know for sure — the stage has been set for profound transformation and enduring positive change. The pandemic has forced us to rethink old paradigms and plan for a future that will look very different from our past. To successfully navigate this future, we need to look at both the technology and people sides of the equation. By connecting children to learning opportunities and data literacy, we can create a pathway into more equity, diversity, inclusion, and less vulnerability to sudden disruptions like COVID-19.
Our children have the right to be AI-educated so they can thrive intellectually, emotionally, and morally alongside AI.
We need to remember something fundamental with our children, that we cannot let anything come in between the human conversation. Before giving the latest smartphone, smart tablet, or AI toy to our children, we should talk with them about AI and data. That’s why we have designed A Fresh Squeeze on Data – A picture book about problem-solving with data. This back-and-forth conversation with little kids in this book is the best way to learn about AI and data science.
We should never outgrow picture books!
I believe wholeheartedly in picture books. I don’t think kids or adults outgrow picture books. I hear my friends, who are parents, often say with a level of satisfaction and pride: “My kid is now reading independently and no longer needs the crutch of pictures.” Although I appreciate the parent’s pride, when I hear this, I think to myself, “poor child, poor mom, and dad.” NOBODY moves on from picture books. Nobody should.
We all must recognize what picture books, the true miracles of the literary world, do for our kids and us — grownups. It is remarkable how picture books shine at the twin arts of visual and textual storytelling. I have personally tried to tell adults and kids about data but reading a picture book on solving problems with data to a child, I have seen this magic firsthand. I’ll be reading along aloud, and the child will laugh, not at anything I read but at something they have read in the pictures — when explaining how machines learn or how robots perceive things. While we are reading one story, told in words, the child is reading another, told through art. In A Fresh Squeeze on Data, kids follow the words on the page, creating an entire narrative of their own on; equity, Data literacy, and more, adding details, creating secondary storylines.
We often think of computer science or AI education in terms of coding and computers. But we need more visual literacy.
A Fresh Squeeze on Data is not just about problem-solving with data. It reminds us about: being courageous, trying new things, having fun, laughing more, making new friends, falling, and getting back up, trying again, asking lots of questions, color outside the lines, wander around. This book encourages children to explore, experience, and express their world—a world without limits. We must give our children the very pages on which they will author our future.
We often think of computer science or AI education in terms of coding and computers. But we need more visual literacy. I refer most directly to creating and reading images; it extends to understanding communication and interaction. We all live in highly visual culture. If instilling “21st-century skills” — teaching our children to communicate through a google slideshow, write code, or create a video presentation — is what we are after, then encouraging reading picture books serves the purpose.
I still read picture books, and if we are all honest with ourselves, in all likelihood, so do you. What are all those mangas and graphic novels and pricey coffee-table books and online comics we’re all sharing too — not to mention Instagram stories and TikTok videos — if not, in essence, picture books for grownups? Stories with pictures.
At Cloudera and ReadyAI, we designed this picture book to help promote equitable data literacy. Our story with data is like any timeless picture book; that story is told through a powerful combination of words and artwork anyone can understand.
I highly encourage that kids and adults read A Fresh Squeeze on Data. We should not outgrow picture books, I mean ever. My feeling is we won’t be able to fully appreciate data until we define our genuine human values first.
Working with amazing people at Cloudera in designing A Fresh Squeeze on Data reminded me that we are all kids, some younger and some older. We don’t inherit the world from our parents; we borrow it from our children. When it comes to the important decisions in life, we can and should combine data with human insight and human values.
Get your free download of A Fresh Squeeze on Data, gain access to kids worksheets and teacher lessons plans, and watch animated videos with additional resources by visiting FreshSqueezeKids.com.
About the Author
Roozbeh Aliabadi is CEO (aka Chief Troublemaker) at ReadyAI. ReadyAI promotes and provides artificial intelligence education for K-12 students around the world. We work with the best researchers, institutions, and companies in AI, to bring the most updated and relevant knowledge to the AI learning community. We believe that AI learning should be: fun, creative, collaborative, empathetic, ethical, and for everyone. (www.readyai.org)
Editor's Choice
Nice article ,
I like the idea of books with pictures and images . Because it will improve and expand the imagination of the children in sort of artistic way.
What a wonderful world can be if our kids learn problem solving with kind of nice and delicate artistic way.
Defenatly will be the world which is much better than the one we already have….