There is only one effective learning principle when it comes to machine learning: "Hands-on learning is key." Neither kids nor adults are able to develop a clear understanding what machine learning is and how it works without trying it for themselves, ideally with use cases that are interesting and relevant to the individual. MachineLearningforKids.co.uk is super simple, but at the same time it brings a lot of the machine learning power of IBM Watson to the table. Developed and maintained by Dale Lane from IBM, the site enables kids or basically any age to visually train their own machine algorithm and then use the resulting inference model to solve simple or complex challenges in the visual and fully browser-based Scratch programming language. Dale's concept is as simple as it is brilliant, as he shows kids in one go how to train a machine learning model and then how to use it in their own Scratch program.

I recently had the pleasure of being invited to speak at The Item Conference http://www.item.nu/cgi-oic/pagedb.exe/show?no 1 in London for educators, policy-makers and head-teachers visiting our amazing City for inspiration and knowledge about how to foster creativity in children with I. T. They were particularly interested in the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. So, with thinking cap on, and just a few short hours to prepare, I was thrilled to find out that A.I in education is not the work of science fiction, but is with us right now -- in action, and starting to build impact. For hundreds of years, humans have pondered the idea of building intelligent machines. Over this time, artificial intelligence has had highs and lows, demonstrated successes and unfulfilled potential. Today, the news is filled with the application of AI and machine learning to new problems.