AI Explained for 7-Year-Olds: What It Is and How It Works

What AI is

AI stands for artificial intelligence. It is a computer program that has practised on a huge pile of examples, so it can guess what should come next: the next word in a sentence, the next picture to draw, the next move in a game. It is not a person and it does not have feelings, though it can sound like one.

How it learns, in four steps

1. Look at lots of examples. It reads and looks at a huge pile of books, pictures and words.
2. Spot patterns. It notices what goes with what, like how 'peanut butter' is often next to 'jelly'.
3. Make a guess. When you ask it something, it guesses the most likely next word or picture.
4. Get corrected. People check its guesses and tell it when it's wrong, so it gets better at guessing.

That is all it does: practise, guess and get corrected. Lots of practice makes the guesses good, but it still guesses, so it can be wrong.

Words you might hear

Artificial intelligence (AI)

A computer program that learns from examples so it can guess well at things. Like a very fast student who has read a whole library.

Machine learning

The way AI gets better: it practises on examples and checks its guesses. Like learning to ride a bike by falling off and trying again.

Training

The long practice time before an AI is ready to use. Like practising piano every day before a concert.

Data

The examples an AI learns from: words, pictures, sounds, numbers. Like the books on a shelf that you read to learn things.

Pattern

Something that shows up again and again, so you can guess what comes next. Like 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…' and knowing Thursday is next.

Prediction

A good guess about what comes next. Like guessing it's going to rain when the sky is grey and dark.

Model

The finished AI brain that has learned from all the examples. Like a recipe book you have memorised, ready to cook from.

Chatbot

An AI you can type or talk to, that writes back. Like a pen pal who always answers quickly, but who can get things wrong.

Prompt

What you type or say to the AI to ask it something. Like asking a librarian a question.

Hallucination

When an AI makes something up and says it like it's true. Like telling a story and forgetting it wasn't real, then saying it as a fact.

Bias

When the examples are unfair or lopsided, so the AI guesses unfairly too. Like a colouring book with only one colour, so you think that's the only one there is.

Algorithm

A set of steps a computer follows, like a recipe. Like instructions for building a sandwich, step by step.

Neural network

A way of building an AI out of many tiny connected parts that pass messages to each other. Like a game of telephone, with lots of people passing on a little more each time.

Robot

A machine you can see and touch. Many AIs are not robots at all. They live only in a computer. A robot is a body. AI is the brain. Some robots have an AI brain, and many AIs have no body.

What AI is good at, and what it is not

Three rules for AI

• Check the important things somewhere else.
• Keep names, schools, addresses and photos out of the chat.
• If it says something strange, scary or rude, stop and tell a grown-up.

Try it yourself

The best way to see how AI learns is to teach one. Do these with a grown-up:

• Quick, Draw! Draw a picture in 20 seconds and the computer guesses what it is. (Your drawings are kept and shared with scientists.)
• Teachable Machine Show the camera a thumbs-up and a thumbs-down a few times, and watch it learn to tell them apart.
• AI for Oceans Teach a computer which things are fish and which are rubbish, and help it clean the sea.

Grown-ups: more free places to learn about AI, checked and sorted by age, are in where to learn about AI.