Should kids learn coding or not
Well this used to be the question in most of the parents’ minds a few years back or if I can phrase it more precisely, before ChatGPT arrived.
As we were thankfully and successfully seeing Covid fade away, the term generative AI surrounded us in the late 2022 and it has simply grown and grown since then. GenAI kept on making news and shocked us every time with its ever growing capabilities and power. It still is.
We as parents, again have this confusion as we keep on reading the news about how AI will take the jobs away or how AI can code for us and what not. Being at this side of the system where I have the opportunity to explore the world of technology so that I can create content for the Gen Z and Gen Alpha to keep them updated to face the challenges of the coming times, I firmly believe that being able to code and understand its nuances is a skill which is going to stay and will be required more and more going forward.
Not denying the fact that AI is becoming powerful but it still has a long way to go. To be able to use it to our best also needs some kind of understanding of how computer systems work, how to give instructions, how the system takes our instructions and so on and this is from a user's perspective.
The current generation is highly deft at using the technology. It makes all good sense to give them the power to understand how it works and how they can use it in their own field of interests as they grow up. Students are taking courses like Art and Psychology with Computer Sciences for their undergraduate studies. A bachelor student with some computer science knowledge gained during the formative years will definitely have an edge in these higher study programs. This has been proven time and again as I deal with the younger generation at my workplace. Students who have a creative side are taking technology in their stride and going for jobs in fields like Human Computer Interactions, Cognitive Science and such futuristic areas where we can see the seamless blend of technology with humanities. I gave this example because otherwise in the common domains of science, medicine we already know how much technology is being used and what it can do.
It is heartening to see the ‘humane’ side of technology and how the current generation is embracing it with open arms. Let us foster the positivity in the usage of technology in our Gen Alpha today as they are the innovators of tomorrow.
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