AI and IoT in Education

• The AI4STEM Curriculum focuses on applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Educational Robotics, introducing the 5 Big Ideas in AI using Internet of Things (IoT) in STEM education.
• Project number: 2022-1-FR01-KA220-SCH-000085611.

Revision History

• Sofia Sousa, Ana Barroca, and Joana Santos from SCHOLÉ created the draft on August 24, 2023.

Referenced Documents

• The AI4STEM Proposal is referenced with ID 1, reference 2022-1-FR01-KA220-SCH-000085611.
• The document is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Module Introduction

• The module explores AI and its uses in everyday life, helping teachers integrate it into the classroom, emphasizing the connection between AI and the Internet of Things (IoT).
• It aims to provide teachers with simple information about AI and IoT, including examples, activities, and learning objectives for elementary and secondary school classrooms.
• It also suggests scenarios for approaching AI and IoT through the lens of the 5 Big Ideas proposed by the AI4K12 initiative, with a focus on Societal Impact.

Glossary - Key notions and concepts

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) combines computer science and robust datasets to enable problem-solving and perform tasks requiring human intelligence.
• Such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language translation.
• A robot is any automatically operated machine used to replace human effort, which may not resemble or function like humans.
• Capacity-based AI is categorized into three types based on learning ability:
  • Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI)
  • Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)
  • Artificial Superintelligence (ASI).
• Functionality-Based AI concerns how AI applies learning capabilities to process data, respond to stimuli, and interact with its environment.
• The AI4K12 project focuses on teaching AI in K-12 in the US, aligning its vision for AI education with the CSTA standards for computer science.
  • These standards, published in 2017, describe what should be taught in US schools across the discipline of computer science.
• The Internet of Things (IoT) uses computer tools to automate real-world processes.
  • It involves computing devices transferring information over a network without needing human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• AI is the ability of machines to simulate human intelligence processes using computer programs.
• AI development focuses on algorithms and systems that can perform tasks requiring human intelligence.
  • Reasoning, self-learning, problem solving, pattern recognition, decision-making, and understanding language.
• AI can learn in three ways:
  • Supervised: A person provides the AI with information for specific situations
  • Semi-supervised: AI classifies a set of unclassified images based on an initial classification process
  • Unsupervised: AI identifies patterns and differentiates images autonomously.

Types of Artificial Intelligence

• AI comes in various types, each with its own applications, challenges, advantages, and limitations.
• Classification typically depends on Capacity-based and Intelligence and Functionality-Based criteria.
• Capacity-based AI has three types:
  • Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI) executes specific actions, like image recognition software, self-driving cars, and AI assistants such as Siri or Alexa.
  • Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) can learn, think, and perform tasks like a human.
    • It can be built using supercomputers and generative AI models like ChatGPT.
  • Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) is the kind of machine seen in science fiction movies, believed to become stronger than any human once it reaches general intelligence.
    • Examples being used in movies live Ex Machina or I, Robot. Functionality-Based AI can be sorted in four different types:
  • Reactive Machines react in the immediate.
    • They respond to external stimuli in real time, with no memory.
    • Used to filter spam and recommend movies on Netflix.
    • IBM's Deep Blue, which beat Gary Kasparov in 1997, is a famous reactive machine.
  • Limited Memory stores past data and makes predictions, improving performance through experience; most chatbots and self-driving cars fit in this category.
  • Theory of Mind can pick up on emotions and subtle environment changes, with researchers still far from creating AI that can respond to human emotions and predict actions.
  • Self-Aware marks a type of AI that reaches its singularity and can think independently leading to machines being out of control.
    • Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics, the robot is an example of a more developed AI.

Task for the classroom - AI in the classroom

• To introduce AI, teachers can show images where AI is used and ask students if they know what AI is, and how it is used.
• Examples include robots, virtual assistants (like Alexa or Siri), facial recognition apps, self-driven cars, chatbot websites (like chat GPT), and Netflix recommendations.
• After assessing student understanding, the class can discuss the types of AI.
• Questions to encourage discussion.
  • Do all these AIs work in the same way?
  • What are the differences you can name?
  • Why do you think they work/act differently?
• Students can create groups and separate the AIs by type for further understanding.
• Learning outcomes include:
  • Students should be able to discuss and understand what AI is.
  • Be able to identify the different types of AI.
  • Be able to discuss the similarities and differences between the different types of AI.

Application of AI in everyday life

• AI is present in daily routines, from unlocking phones with facial recognition to personalized recommendations on Netflix or Amazon.
• Beyond routine tasks, AI is also found in healthcare, finance, manufacturing, transportation, entertainment, and education.
• Google search engines use AI algorithms for voice and image search, translation, and maps.
• Social networks use AI for pattern analysis to personalize content.
• Virtual assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa allow interaction, answering questions and performing tasks through natural language processing (NLP)
• AI is present in the automotive industry, with autonomous transportation (TESLA, Efficiency Optimization, Intelligent Navigation).
• AI helps in medical diagnoses by finding patterns and assisting doctors' decisions in detecting anomalies.
• Educational platforms use AI to adapt the contents, learning to the needs in the progress of the student (Khan Academy, Duolingo, Squirrel AI).
• The use of AI in smart homes is a common application.

Task for the classroom – AI in everyday life

• The teacher starts a discussion with the students about how much they rely on AI in their daily lives.
• Questions for discussion include:
  • Do you think AI has made our life better or easier?
  • Do you have any smart equipment at home?
  • Do you remember any AI that we use here at school? Do you think it is useful?
  • Can you name areas that might be improved with the use of AI?
• Learning outcomes include:
  • Students should be able to identify the AI in their daily routine.
  • Students should be able to discuss about the AI in their everyday life.
  • Students should be able to understand more than robot working and get familiarized with all the ways AI presents in our everyday lives.

AI and the 5 Big Ideas

• The "Five Big Ideas" of Artificial Intelligence (AI) were proposed by John Haugeland as a way to summarize the key concepts that make up the area of AI.
• The Five Big Ideas offer an overview of the fundamental principles behind the development of AI, and provide a foundation for understanding the fundamental principles and concepts of Artificial Intelligence.
• The Five Big Ideas of AI4K12 are:
  • Perception: Computers can perceive the world through sensors, enabling them to 'see' and 'hear' providing the ability to extract meaning from sensory signals.
  • Representation & Reasoning: Agents maintain representations of the world and use them for reasoning.
    • It helps generate a semblance of representation and reasoning that can help to work with big data.
  • Learning: Machine learning provides a statistical interference that helps in finding patterns in data.
    • Triggers can come either from human input or from the machine itself.
  • Natural Interaction: AI agents require many kinds of knowledge to interact with humans naturally.
    • The humanistic quality includes conversing in human languages, facial expressions and emotions, and drawing upon social conventions.
  • Societal Impact: AI has both positive and negative impacts on society.
    • There must be a balance between using technology and limiting it for enhanced human interactions.

Societal Impact in AI

• AI has a significant impact on society in various areas such as economy, people's daily lives, transforming the society bringing benefits and challenges.
• Examples include:
  • Automating tasks
  • Healthcare and Medicine: Improves treatments and reduces costs.
  • Transport: Improves safety, optimizes traffic, improving safety on the roads, offering more accessibility for people.
  • Education: Transforms way people learn by customizing education to the needs of the student.
  • E-Commerce and Personalized Recommendations: Creates personalized product recommendations based on user purchase history.
  • Accessibility: Creates technologies assisting voice recognition for people with disabilities
  • Cyber Security: Helps to detect patterns of cyber threats and attacks
  • Ethics and Privacy: Addresses ethical and privacy issues in regards to the data.
  • Government and Global decision-making: improves public safety and health.
• The Societal Impact of AI can be positive or negative, due to the likelihood of there being biases in the data which impacts AI performance.

The Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence

• IoT is strongly connected to AI.
  • IoT helps the AI to process and create an appropriate response to a real-world event that was signaled by the IoT.
• AI is essential to IoT.
• The question is not if they should use AI but how far AI can be taken depending on the complexity of the real-world system the IoT supports.
• AI helps the IoT to reduce the need for direct human participation.
• As the IoT is aimed at reducing the need for direct human work, it still needs human judgment and decisions.
• The capabilities of the AI tools are an advance over the simple IoT programming.
• IoT users should monitor AI developments and watch for new opportunities and symbiosis.
• Examples of the interaction and contribution of AI to the IoT:
  • Robots in Manufacturing: These robots are equipped with AI algorithms, becoming smarter and learning from new data.
    • Saves time and cost while making the manufacturing process better over time.
  • Self-driving Cars: These cars predict the behaviour of pedestrians and can take under consideration road conditions, weather, and optimal speed
  • Smart Thermostat Solution: Check and manage the temperature from anywhere based on the work schedule and temperature preferences of its users.

Task for the classroom – Iot and AI

• After teaching the theory about IoT and AI, teachers can task the students to think of examples while describing the role of IoT and the role of the AI.
• Possible examples:
  • Smart parking system can analyze connected data to send each car to the most convenient place in the park.
  • An healthy diet monitoring system can provide data to the student.
• Learning outcomes include:
  • Students should be able to understand and communicate differences between IoT and AI
  • Students should be able to examples of applications and industries that apply IoT and AI combined together.
  • Students should understand the role of both IoT and AI in the execution of some interactions together.

Ethics in Artificial Intelligence

• The use of AI raises ethical issues:
  • Fairness
  • Data responsibility and privacy
• Climate degradation
• Threats to human rights
• Accountability
• Technology misuse
• The potential invasion of privacy using devices like smart speakers and virtual assistants collecting data about children's behaviour, preferences and learning patterns.
• Reliance on AI can prevent students from developing personal skills or social skills like communication, perseverance, or critical thinking.

Task for the classroom – Ethics and AI

• The teachers can start by showing the students some school equipment and ask students to describe the equipment shown that might demonstrate artificial intelligence.
• The teachers may ask the benefits and drawbacks of these technologies.
• Teachers should divide the class in smaller groups asking about and defining positive and negative aspects about using the equipment, while delivering safe rules.
• Students must share their conclusions.
• "Ethics in the classroom” anchor chart must be created using the suggestions done by the students.
• Through this task, students should be able to:
  • Describe at least one example of an ethical issue pertaining to AI, along with its impact on society.
  • Create at least one guiding principle that addresses an AI ethics issue.
  • Gain conscience about the risk involved while using AI.
  • Reflecting on the positive and negative aspects of AI.