Machine Learning for Kids

A Project-Based Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Author Dale Lane
Ebook
On sale Jan 19, 2021 | 392 Pages | 9781718500570
Grades 7-9
Reading Level: Lexile 1090L
A hands-on, application-based introduction to machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) that guides young readers through creating compelling AI-powered games and applications using the Scratch programming language.

Machine learning (also known as ML) is one of the building blocks of AI, or artificial intelligence. AI is based on the idea that computers can learn on their own, with your help.

Machine Learning for Kids will introduce you to machine learning, painlessly. With this book and its free, Scratch-based, award-winning companion website, you'll see how easy it is to add machine learning to your own projects. You don't even need to know how to code!

As you work through the book you'll discover how machine learning systems can be taught to recognize text, images, numbers, and sounds, and how to train your models to improve their accuracy. You'll turn your models into fun computer games and apps, and see what happens when they get confused by bad data.

You'll build 13 projects step-by-step from the ground up, including:
    Rock, Paper, Scissors game that recognizes your hand shapes
    An app that recommends movies based on other movies that you like
    A computer character that reacts to insults and compliments
    An interactive virtual assistant (like Siri or Alexa) that obeys commands
    An AI version of Pac-Man, with a smart character that knows how to avoid ghosts

NOTE: This book includes a Scratch tutorial for beginners, and step-by-step instructions for every project.

Ages 12+
Dale Lane is an award-winning, UK-based software developer for IBM, where he's worked on IBM's (AI) Watson platform since 2011. The father of two children, he's gained distinction working on projects and games that help explain core principles of machine learning to younger students. Lane's free companion website for this book (https://machinelearningforkids.co.uk/) is now used in thousands of schools, and has received worldwide acclaim.
Introduction

Chapter 1. What is Artificial Intelligence?
Chapter 2. Introducing Machine Learning for Kids
Chapter 3. Sorting Animal Pictures
Chapter 4. Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors Against Your Computer
Chapter 5. Recognizing Movie Posters
Chapter 6. Mail Sorting
Chapter 7. Insulting a Computer
Chapter 8. Recognizing Language in Newspapers
Chapter 9. Finding an Object in a Picture
Chapter 10. Smart Assistants
Chapter 11. Chatbots
Chapter 12. Avoiding the Monster
Chapter 13. Tic Tac Toe
Chapter 14. Confusing the Computer
Chapter 15. Biasing the Computer
Chapter 16. Afterword

Appendix: Scratch
"Machine Learning for Kids is another leading-edge resource for data scientists, this time for very young data scientists."
—Daniel Gutierrez, insideBIGDATA

“What delights me about this book is that it’s wonderfully pragmatic, for it guides you in building AI systems that are very much relevant to contemporary computer science.” (from the foreword)
—Grady Booch, IBM Fellow and Chief Scientist for Software Engineering, IBM Research

"The book is a guided hands-on and practical introduction to how artificial intelligence impacts our lives. It includes step-by-step instructions for making a variety of machine learning-powered projects in Scratch, and explains how they each relate to real-world AI applications."
—Alphonse Devasia Blog

"Machine Learning and children in one sentence is only possible when cool folks like Dale Lane make it their passion to ‘make tech understandable.'"
—Coding and More, YouTuber

About

A hands-on, application-based introduction to machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) that guides young readers through creating compelling AI-powered games and applications using the Scratch programming language.

Machine learning (also known as ML) is one of the building blocks of AI, or artificial intelligence. AI is based on the idea that computers can learn on their own, with your help.

Machine Learning for Kids will introduce you to machine learning, painlessly. With this book and its free, Scratch-based, award-winning companion website, you'll see how easy it is to add machine learning to your own projects. You don't even need to know how to code!

As you work through the book you'll discover how machine learning systems can be taught to recognize text, images, numbers, and sounds, and how to train your models to improve their accuracy. You'll turn your models into fun computer games and apps, and see what happens when they get confused by bad data.

You'll build 13 projects step-by-step from the ground up, including:
    Rock, Paper, Scissors game that recognizes your hand shapes
    An app that recommends movies based on other movies that you like
    A computer character that reacts to insults and compliments
    An interactive virtual assistant (like Siri or Alexa) that obeys commands
    An AI version of Pac-Man, with a smart character that knows how to avoid ghosts

NOTE: This book includes a Scratch tutorial for beginners, and step-by-step instructions for every project.

Ages 12+

Author

Dale Lane is an award-winning, UK-based software developer for IBM, where he's worked on IBM's (AI) Watson platform since 2011. The father of two children, he's gained distinction working on projects and games that help explain core principles of machine learning to younger students. Lane's free companion website for this book (https://machinelearningforkids.co.uk/) is now used in thousands of schools, and has received worldwide acclaim.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1. What is Artificial Intelligence?
Chapter 2. Introducing Machine Learning for Kids
Chapter 3. Sorting Animal Pictures
Chapter 4. Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors Against Your Computer
Chapter 5. Recognizing Movie Posters
Chapter 6. Mail Sorting
Chapter 7. Insulting a Computer
Chapter 8. Recognizing Language in Newspapers
Chapter 9. Finding an Object in a Picture
Chapter 10. Smart Assistants
Chapter 11. Chatbots
Chapter 12. Avoiding the Monster
Chapter 13. Tic Tac Toe
Chapter 14. Confusing the Computer
Chapter 15. Biasing the Computer
Chapter 16. Afterword

Appendix: Scratch

Praise

"Machine Learning for Kids is another leading-edge resource for data scientists, this time for very young data scientists."
—Daniel Gutierrez, insideBIGDATA

“What delights me about this book is that it’s wonderfully pragmatic, for it guides you in building AI systems that are very much relevant to contemporary computer science.” (from the foreword)
—Grady Booch, IBM Fellow and Chief Scientist for Software Engineering, IBM Research

"The book is a guided hands-on and practical introduction to how artificial intelligence impacts our lives. It includes step-by-step instructions for making a variety of machine learning-powered projects in Scratch, and explains how they each relate to real-world AI applications."
—Alphonse Devasia Blog

"Machine Learning and children in one sentence is only possible when cool folks like Dale Lane make it their passion to ‘make tech understandable.'"
—Coding and More, YouTuber

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