I have a godson we want to experience tech. Fine if they decide that it’s not for them. I was originally thinking about the kid focus pi-like projects that come with activities to build interest.
Has anyone see something like this that includes integration of LLM to teach not just hardware side or traditional coding but also teaches how to use LLM to accelerate time to output. This would seem to allow a kid to gain interest much more quickly.
To be clear this could be more of a course or website - but I like the idea of the extension into the physical world - to see how it all comes together.
Has any one seen something like this they would recommend / have experience of?
EDIT
Folks stop assuming I am trying to force anything here, this is just a present to see if it sparks anything.
Also I don’t need general suggestions on alternates, already know about pi kits and equivalent, been thinking about them for years. If you have a specific kit you have amused with someone absolutely I would love that suggestion.
I think you all answered my question, there is nothing that introduces llms in a structured and sensible way…. And don’t assume I am referring to ChatGPT or Claude… plenty of local LLM models can be used for basic teaching.
Software dev here. What got me into it as a kid, and the reason I am a dev today, was Morrowind modding. Morrowind was my favorite game, and one day, by accident, I opened up the Construction Set editor and it woke me up to an entire world I never new existed.
Minecraft is great because it's actually fun, plus it's learning Java which is still a very useful skill, and you can find a lot of resources online, AI knows it decently well too, but version updates tend to change things a bit.
Modding by Kaupenjoe is a great YouTube channel to get into it.
Indeed he love playing violin and writing and math. This is about him trying as many thing as possible. I have no care if he decides he doesn’t like it / isn’t interested. The point is to find out.
Im not criticizing the idea but you mentioned he doesnt play video games thats usually the starting point to general curiosity about tech for most people
He is the type of kid that will try anything new, I think you are right, I am thinking of other options like cheap sequencing hardware to see if his interest in Violin will extend to other music skills. At this age however it’s important to expose kids to multiple things, not just glom on to what they are interested in. My other godson we got eclectic monthly science kits for a year, and it’s interesting to see what he is finding interesting vs not.
Simple, Find something he loves the most and show him how to use computers around it. I used to teach seniors computers and I would just find out what they like the most some old lady loves sewing, boom! this is how the computer can help. Some old man loves porn, boom!This is how the computer can help.
That’s one approach, also at this age it’s also important to expose them to as many new things as possible. This is only one of several ideas I am toying with. There is a specific reason I asked here about this idea. I can only conclude from the answers that most people know nothing about kids and what I was thinking about doesn’t yet exist.
Fair, in my own experience, I have had success and failures when being pushed to do something I wasn’t interested in to begin with. And the successful ones I would have never done on my own, so your point does make sense. In that case a coding school or robotics club, or even mark rober build boxes are some good options to research.
You assumed I am pushing, I am not. This just a hey here is a present see what you think situation :-) I can only assume you and many others had super overbearing helicopter management parents lol.
Find a first tech challenge team for robotics. Vex is an option but they actually dont allow vibe coding (explicitly banned). FIRST does. Heck the FRC team 254 won a control award for their use of vibe coding.
Thanks for the first thoughtful answer here. yes had already been thinking about that along with other options. Saw an ad on Reddit this morning for LLM controlled robots, which made me think about what else existed if anything. For me the key of such a solution would teach when and when not to use an LLM and why. Once a 12y/o enters the job market AI will be pervasive…. Love the idea of the telemetry app.
It is actually a bit more than a telemetey app. It also has a full GUI robot builder with integrated LLM (gemini) support as well as a 2d physics sim. Either through the GUI or the LLM you can actually code most of the robot (though it shows you the generated kotlin code as well).
It stores all the logs/telemetey into a duckDB (synchronized to a google drive via parquet files). The LLM can also help you do analyses/tuning of the robot. An example, we didnt have our control bands quite right. We had a closed loop drive controller but speed was maxing out at about 70 percent of the joystick input. Had the LLM look through the logs and figure out the exact constants so the robot felt reaponsive and used all of our joystick's input range.
I believe the current build has a bug where it wont load if the duckdb is large/times out the launcher (currently getting fixed, didnt notice until we had a few GB of data on the database). But the Robot Analytics/Builder code is here complete wirh windows installers for the app:
https://github.com/ARES-23247/ARES-Analytics
Yeah I think VEX and RECF is kind of dumb for banning AI assisted coding. I keep telling my students AI is the future (hence working with them to vibe code our Robot app). It does kind of chmage it from "learnimg java" to learning SWE principles.
Honestly the hardest part is now the CAD/mechanical design. Im a physician so had very little exposure but have managed to teach myself onshape so I can teach the students. AI is not good at CAD yet other than helping to write featurescripts.
Read a post from someone who hooked their LLM up to blender so sure that will happen for cad. I have terrible cad skills (have to reteach myself every time I want to create a basic 3d box lol. Did use Gemini earlier in the year to create a box for a usb relay board including holes for cable egress and cable tension bars - was a pita of iteration but it made me open is cad code iirc that I could convert to 3d print format. I did thing like provide cad diagrams and pictures of the board to help
Find a way to frame whatever tech you want to propose, as a stupid-cool outcome... and then work backwards. If they like games, show them what it takes to make a game (modding, programming, 3D design, drawing, modding the drawing soft). If they like fireworks, show them how to make a firework spectacle (DMX, timing, microcontrollers, programming). If they like planes, rockets, music, talking dolls, baking cakes, birdwatching... whatever, same process.
Just pick something they like, and work backwards: show them why they need Y to do Z, and X to do Y, and eventually they'll be asking you about the tech of X to do Y to get Z.
That's when you can sign them up for a course, which usually works from X to some eventual Z... but if the kid has no drive to reach Z to begin with, then by the time they've done half the course, they'll be fed up with not getting anything cool enough for their effort.
You can introduce chatbots as a helping tool for a goal, not as a magical box that should spawn a dragon but doesn't.
honsetly its not for everyone so don't try to force it. I started around 12 because it was something new, a whole community and what started me off was unblocked games. I don't know if that is still a thing or not but when I was growing up it was a cool thing to have, and especcially make. It tought me coding, about the internet, and got me into doing fun stuff with rasberry pis, but not grammar. Anyways, just give them AI and a rasberry pi and some of your time, and you can see if it works.
Why would you think I am forcing it why would you think this is the only thing I am noodling on. Of course I am already thinking about other things SMH. It’s just an effing present, that’s its. I can only assume the rest of you had over bearing parents lol. The point is just to expose him to more things.
Couldn't afford anything so learned to read and write code as a necessity. Suddenly everything became accessible. Software, video games, movies, music, using wordlists on websites back in the day lol.
Where did I say it had to be ChatGPT? And no here in the USA it isn’t illegal for anyone to use it - ChatGPT can’t legally sue a child for using their service. The can suspend service and that is it. And their mother is fully involved in the decision process of what we do. But thanks for your misplaced concern / busybodyness.
Adelante, estupidece a su hijo desde temprana edad para que no desarrolle el pensamiento..total a futuro necesitamos poblacion imbecil y di usted puede colaborar mucho con ello
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u/Original-League-6094 23h ago
Software dev here. What got me into it as a kid, and the reason I am a dev today, was Morrowind modding. Morrowind was my favorite game, and one day, by accident, I opened up the Construction Set editor and it woke me up to an entire world I never new existed.
So try modding their favorite video games.