Cork primary school children were on hand recently to present thoughts, concerns and hopes for artificial intelligence. Inspired by the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey".
Cork's Technology Network (CEIA) provided a resource kit for primary teachers of fifth and sixth class to initiate discussion about technology on a macro and micro level. Children then developed a story board, poster presentation and video presentation to share with their peers.
Commenting at the event, Valerie Cowman Chair of the Skills and Education Committee of the CEIA said "This initiative is about giving students the opportunity to reflect on the control and information that we freely hand over, and about examining some of the potential outcomes in society as we give more and more to machines and machine learning. HAL was a concept 50 years ago, a warning of sorts, that is still valid toady.We want the students to have fun, and to see the amazing opportunities as well as the challenges of the incredible technology we have in our world today and potentially tomorrow".
CEIA is now recruiting for the HAL programme for the 2018/19 academic year, more details are available at www.ceia.ie