FREE: Primary AI booklet: Artificial Intelligence... but where is the intelligence?

If you’re reading this before Friday 16th August 2024 and in London the co-author of this booklet (Prof Paul Curzon, QMUL) is running some workshops on AI at the Royal Institution for kids age 7-8 and 9-11.

• Ages 7-8, Friday 16 August, 11am to 1.15pm
• Ages 9-11, Friday 16 August, 2.15-4.30pm

• • • • • Artificial Intelligence… but where is the intelligence? • • • • • •
We all know the movie plots where evil robots and computers take over the world, but what is the reality? This booklet explores artificial intelligence, the field of science that tries to build ‘thinking machines’.

How are they built? Are they really intelligent? And what is intelligence anyway? We will also ask some interesting questions about a well-known ‘thinking machine’, you! There are some games you can play in your classroom, including building a working brain out of rope, tubes and your students, then playing snap with it. The booklet also contains The Intelligent Piece of Paper which will probably beat you at noughts and crosses…

This 48 page booklet was created in 2008 for a workshop on artificial intelligence. Come along to one of the livestream events (see above) for a series of talks on current research in AI.

Games to play and activities to do
• The Intelligent Piece of Paper - can you beat it at noughts and crosses? Do you think it has intelligence? (see pages 13 and 14)
• Hexapawn - a miniature version of chess, using noughts and crosses pieces - teach a ‘computer’ to play it with sweets (see pages 19 to 23)
• Build A Brain to play snap - you can build a working model of a (very simple) brain with loo rolls, ropes and kids or with beads, string and hands (see pages 30-33)

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More free stuff
Our CS4FN ‘shop’ (everything is £0) on TES
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/JoBrodieCS4FN

CS4FN is supported through EPSRC Research Grant EP/W033615/1.