Skip to content
Young Makers: AI for KidsLesson 1 of 11

1 · What is AI? (not magic, not alive)

You've probably heard people talk about AI. Those two letters stand for artificial intelligence. "Artificial" means made by people — like an artificial flower is a flower people made. "Intelligence" means being able to think and figure things out. So AI is a computer program that people built to do jobs that usually need a thinking brain — like answering questions, drawing a picture, or telling a robot where to go.

Here's the most important thing to remember, and we'll come back to it again and again:

AI is not magic, and it is not alive. It can't feel happy or sad. It doesn't want anything. It doesn't know you. It is a very fast, very fancy computer program — and a program is just a set of instructions a computer follows.

When a chat helper writes you a friendly message, it can feel like talking to a person. But there is no person and no creature in there. It's a tool, like a calculator that works with words and pictures instead of numbers. Tools are great helpers — and you are always the one in charge of the tool.

What people sometimes thinkWhat's really true
"AI is alive / a robot friend"It's a computer program — no feelings, no body, not awake
"AI knows everything"It can be wrong, and sometimes makes things up (you'll see how soon)
"AI is magic"It's math and patterns — clever, but not magic

Grown-up groups that study AI to keep kids safe, like UNICEF (a part of the United Nations that protects children all over the world), say it's important that kids understand what AI is and how it works — so you can use it well and stay safe. That's exactly what this course is for.

Think about it. In your own words, why is it better to call AI a "tool" than a "friend"?

Sources

Sign in to track your progress