The Future of Robotics And Technology In Childhood

Robots are already part of our lives, and no one doubts that this will continue for a long time since they are increasingly present in our daily lives. If we have managed to get a fridge to buy itself, what can we not achieve?

The future, created by the children who are still in school, has infinite possibilities. And although there are already many curricular and extracurricular activities that seek to introduce them to the world of robotics and new technologies, most do so only from a technical perspective, leaving aside reflection and the new ethical and social issues that arise as a result of this discipline.

In a society increasingly aware of equality and mental health, how can a discipline that will play an indispensable role in our future drag these stereotypes? A concern that is even more accentuated when talking about Big Data. A great example of this is when, in 2014, Amazon began using Artificial Intelligence for employee selection. Soon they realized that, for some jobs, the system had a clear preference for men: were they more suitable for these positions than women? Not.

The problem was that to design the algorithm, the resumes of the last 10 years were taken into account as a database, which was mostly men and, therefore, also the most hired. This case, like many other similar ones, demonstrates how Artificial Intelligence is not objective by itself but is based on the pre-existing opinions of our society, replicating and accentuating all kinds of social inequalities.

From childhood, reflexive critical thinking in new technologies; that is, to help our sons and daughters be users with criteria and become future developers who design technological tools, taking into account both their usefulness and their consequences, sometimes not so visible in society. Thus creating a more awake, thoughtful, conscious and even vindictive society around new technologies.

According to studies, 42% of boys and girls between 5 and 7 years old have their tablet, 3 out of 4 boys and girls of 12 years old have a mobile phone and 70% of boys and girls between 12 and 15 years old, social networks. For this reason, the association emphasizes the importance of acting now, from childhood, providing them with educational tools and resources for this purpose.