Amidst a paradigm shift in technology, it looks to be the case that a failure to understand (and use) AI is a failure to prepare for a rapidly approaching future.

But plenty of questions remain. How best to support literacies related to AI? Where exactly should AI sit within a revised curriculum? And might the provision of AI tools to children (without appropriate support) simply foster a ‘copy and paste’ mindset – one which is antagonistic to learning?

In this episode, Vicki is joined by Irene Picton – senior project and research manager at the National Literacy Trust to explore recent research into children’s literacy and the debate around AI.

Talking points:

• What does literacy look like – and require – in the age of AI?
• How might children’s use of AI entrench existing inequity, and what more could schools do to support literate use of these tools?
• Are we guilty of a ‘screens = bad’ binary, or are concerns like the role of AI in EdTech warranted?
  
  

Tech Shock is a Parent Zone production. Follow Parent Zone on social media for all the latest on our work on helping families to thrive in the digital age. Presented by Vicki Shotbolt. Tech Shock is produced and edited by Tim Malster.

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AI technologies are becoming more and more embedded in daily life – in ways that go well beyond smart speakers or nifty thermometers.

But this embedding raises lots of questions. Some people have little faith in Big Tech (or the countries trying to regulate it) to get it right. Providing it really isn’t just a matter of the optics, the now safety-less renaming of the US ‘AI Safety Institute’ to the ‘Centre for AI Standards and Innovation’ is a case in point. The planned EU legislative rollback points to a contentious roadmap.

So amid deepfakes, relationship chatbots and a reality we might describe as ‘synthetic’, what remains for trust and authenticity? How can we start thinking about harms – and mitigating them – as well as harnessing the potential of AI? In this episode, globally recognised AI expert Henry Ajder joins Vicki to explore these topics further.

Talking points:

• Just how worried should we be about AI when it comes to the ballot box?
• What does a ‘digital nutrition label’ look like, and how might this be one way to help identify what’s genuine?
• When it comes to recognising AI generated content, can increased levels of media literacy actually result in harmful overconfidence?

Tech Shock is a Parent Zone production. Follow Parent Zone on social media for all the latest on our work on helping families to thrive in the digital age. Presented by Vicki Shotbolt. Tech Shock is produced and edited by Tim Malster.

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Understanding AI has never been more critical. It’s part of most conversations around emerging tech. It raises endless questions around safety, creativity, copyright and intellectual property. The UK government, too, now has a national focus on upskilling young people for the “AI-powered jobs of the future”.

‘Experience AI’ is a programme developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation and Google DeepMind and delivered across the UK and internationally. It helps to improve the skills and confidence of both educators and students on how AI tech works – and fosters important surrounding literacies.

In this episode, Vicki is joined by the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s Ben Garside and Parent Zone’s chief of staff Megan Rose to look at the impact that Experience AI is having currently, and where the programme may be going next.

Talking points:

• Beyond understanding prompts and functionalities, how can educational resources tackle topics like the wider societal impact of AI?
• Is Experience AI meeting educator’s current needs – and are learnings (around, for example, the importance of not ‘anthropomorphising’ chatbots) landing well?
• As children around the globe gain access to AI, how do their experiences of it – and attitudes towards it – change depending on where they live?

Tech Shock is a Parent Zone production. Follow Parent Zone on social media for all the latest on our work on helping families to thrive in the digital age. Presented by Vicki Shotbolt. Tech Shock is produced and edited by Tim Malster.

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