Lakeview Elementary School fourth graders netted knowledge about artificial intelligence this winter by helping a computer fish for information.
 
Students in Craig Eveleth’s class hooked many answers about machine learning on their educational fishing poles. They trained a computer how to make a data set of fish by clicking on pictures of ocean-living creatures.
 
Jazmyne and Wendy both said the lesson about machine learning was fun. They discovered that artificial intelligence (AI) programs are only as good as the training data that people put into them.
 
“I enjoyed how we had to do the problems with the fish,” Jazmyne said. “It gave me a little more knowledge.”
 
Lincoln Public Schools K-5 Computer Science Coordinator Caitlin Provance said the AI for Oceans lesson was designed to help students feel more confident about machine learning.
 
“As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, it’s essential that they understand the science behind it,” Provance said.
 
Eveleth said helping them become familiar with the why, what and how of AI will give them the tools to understand how best to use it.
 
“I think learning that AI is fallible and can make mistakes is important,” Eveleth said. “AI very frequently makes a mistake. Learning how those mistakes happen and why they happen is important for them.”
 
The lesson then asked students to include only green fish in the data set. The class soon realized that personal preferences of each programmer can affect how AI systems operate.
 
Jowan said she liked learning how the AI training process works.
 
“I learned that AI can be smarter than you, but humans have to program it to make sure that it’s right,” Jowan said. “It was really fun today.”
 
Visit home.lps.org/cte/cs/ to learn more about the many computer science lessons that benefit our students every day at LPS.
 
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