Learning to code is more important for the future than you think
Image: Informationisbeautiful.net
In the future, there will be a demand for more and more Artificial Intelligence [AI] coding to run our cities, the NHS (the UK’s National Health Service) and the devices we use in our home for housework, security, homeworking and entertainment. The amount of coding required is exponentially increasing as the demands of the systems required to support modern life increase. Here are a few examples of the size of the software used in some showcase technologies of their time and what we commonly need now.
1981 - The Space Shuttle used c.400k lines of code
2011 - The Mars Curiosity Rover uses c.6m lines of code
2021 - A modern car uses over 100m lines of code
Note: the DNA of a Mouse can be expressed with 120m lines of code.
Although progressively, much of this coding might be achieved by machine learning, we will still need imaginative software engineers to understand how we can get the best out of the technology of the day and empathy to understand what is needed. To achieve this, we need to educate children today to understand and use coding creatively, so that they can excel in the jobs of the future, control and understand the world around themselves when tomorrow comes.
Whilst AI coding is not a curricular activity yet, there are robotics hobby clubs springing up all over the world, where communities are sharing their curiosity, creativity and ideas with each other. Innovation is the implementation of invention and needs creative thinking to make it successful. This is sort of reminiscent of the tech club community where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak met in the 1970’s and which inspired them to create Apple computers - now the world’s most valuable company and an excellent example of technological innovation.
But what if you aren't a nerdy geek?
Staring at a screen looking at line after line of code appeals to some more than others. Even the prospect of doing this could easily disengage the most willing of potential future coders. How can you stimulate yours or your pupils' interest in coding?
At Consequential Robotics, we created MiRo to stimulate curiosity in young children with a creative mindset, who might not otherwise be interested in abstract coding. Because of its emotionally engaging nature, young children (all ages groups in fact) can control MiRo by learning to code and programming the MiRo robot to make it perform tasks or ‘tricks’, giving MiRo its own set of unique behaviours and personality.
As a companion robot, MiRo offers its potential new coders an emotionally engaging and fun experience as opposed to coding something that is unrelatable in the real world and dare I say it, boring. To give you an insight into how companion robots will be used in the future, I recommend reading the book Klara and the Sun by Nobel Prize laureate Kazuo Ishiguro - set in the not-too-distant future, Klara is an ‘Artificial Friend’ companion robot who tells her story in the first person, which is enlightening and thought-provoking.
The most unique thing about MiRo is that its behaviour can be developed and viewed in the simulation environment first - MiRoCLOUD. Users can see first what a MiRo would do in the real world before launching it onto the physical robot. Coupled with fun lesson plans, new coders can start to see that coding is fun, engaging and has practical benefits in the real world. This being the tip of the iceberg of what you can learn and create with MiRo.
The future of coding in robotics
The exciting future robotic and technological developments doesn’t end there. The almost human and animal-like features below will require creative coding to unlock their full potential. Their uses are limited only by the coders imagination and creativity.
Inexpensive and more accurate sensors - humans have many more than the five basic senses - a sense of balance and a sense of time for instance.
Optical/light sensors - hawk-like cameras - Light and Imaging, Detection and Ranging [LIDAR] that can accurately interpret surroundings and environment in any lighting conditions.
Olfactory sensors that come close to a dog’s sense of smell, which is 10,000 times more sensitive than a human’s - that’s why they can find drugs and lost people.
Sound - microphones that approach the sensitivity of a nocturnal bat together with the software and processing power to usefully interpret the data.
Batteries that are lighter, hold more energy and can be charged faster, which will make robots [and electric vehicles] lighter.
Connectivity such as 5G and beyond that allows devices to share information and processing power with other devices and very powerful computers on the cloud - we do this with MiRoCLOUD which uses a powerful AWS computer, even if we are accessing it using a simple Chromebook browser.
More powerful computer processors that use less energy and run cooler that can translate sensors’ output into meaningful & useful data.
Compact, powerful, and silent linear electric motors, that will make limbs much less cumbersome and enable robots to perform more like humans.
Tackling tomorrow’s problems
New technological advancements will require creative coders to program them with meaningful and practical uses. These uses may include tackling tomorrow’s problems, where creative technological and social solutions are required to deal with some of the existential threats that face humanity, from environmental sustainability, social care, medicine, farming, transport, the economy to human conflict.
All these areas and more already use AI robotics technology to make them more effective and efficient. Because of this, it might be a good idea for the children of today to be taught to learn how these technologies work, rather than expect them to find out for themselves.
