AI for Kids

How AI Can Be a Flashlight, Not a Shortcut (Middle+)

• Amber Ivey (AI) • Season 2 • Episode 16

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What if your child had a kind, judgment-free learning companion—available anytime they needed help? That’s exactly what’s starting to happen in classrooms using AI. In this episode, we talk with Kanishka Seth, a teacher and EdTech leader at Khan Lab School, who works just one floor below the Khan Academy team and sees firsthand how AI is showing up in real learning spaces.

Kanishka shares how Khanmigo, Khan Academy’s AI-powered tool, acts like a thoughtful study buddy—asking questions instead of giving answers, offering feedback, and creating a safe space where kids can learn without fear of being wrong. As she puts it, “It’s like a peer who’s full of energy, always kind, and there to help them think through their ideas.”

If you're wondering how AI fits into your child’s education, this episode is for you. Kanishka’s perspective is both grounded and hopeful. She compares AI to a flashlight: it helps you see more clearly, but your child still needs to choose the direction. 

You’ll also hear stories of real student projects. It’s not about shortcuts—it’s about opening up space for kids to explore, imagine, and grow.

Listen now—you’re not alone on this journey.

🔧 Tools & Platforms Mentioned

  1. Khanmigo by Khan Academy – AI tutor and teaching assistant
    🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org/khan-lab-school/khanmigo
  2. Khan Academy – The nonprofit learning platform
    🔗 https://www.khanacademy.org
  3. ChatGPT – AI chatbot used for planning and Q&A
    🔗 https://chat.openai.com
  4. DALL·E – AI image generation tool used for student creativity
    🔗 https://openai.com/dall-e
  5. Google Lens – Translates signs/menus in real time
    🔗 https://lens.google
  6. Google Translate – For live translation conversations
    🔗 https://translate.google.com


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Amber Ivey:

Welcome to the AI for Kids podcast, where playtime, learning and creating collide bit by bit. Ever wonder how your phone recognizes your face. How does a game learn to get harder as you get better? This is AI. This podcast is designed for kids like you and your human parents, making the complex world of AI easy to understand and, most importantly, fun. So are you ready to unlock the mysteries of artificial intelligence? Subscribe and join us on AI for Kids. Hi everyone, welcome back to AI for Kids. Today we have an awesome guest with us, Kanishka Seth. She's an ed tech lead and ELA teacher. Kanishka, you're going to have to tell us what that means At Khan Lab School and works with cool AI tools that make learning fun. Kanishka, welcome to the show. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into education and why you love this thing called technology?

Kanishka Seth:

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here and share a little bit. So I actually took a very scenic route into the education career. I started off as a project manager and I got to work with different types of tech when I was in that role. Inspiration for this career came from just my love for being a big sister. And then, you know, the pandemic hit and everyone was doing a lot of soul searching and I figured I want to do something that I care about more, which is probably education. So I went back to my own teachers, asked them how I can go about getting into the space and because I had all this tech experience, I just felt like I was naturally very drawn towards ed tech. And now I get to just combine my love for technology and helping people and creating things, I suppose, and I just get to play around with tools all day, which is great.

Amber Ivey:

Share more about this big sister role, because I, too am a big sister. I'm the oldest of four, so share more about how that made you come to this space. I love that.

Kanishka Seth:

Yeah, I'm actually a middle child. I have a bigger sister and a younger brother, so I used to dabble in and out of having some autonomy in some dynamics and not having any in certain situations. But just being a big sister was fun because, like, firstly, my brother thought I was the funniest person like ever. You know, when I was working with him oh, when he was younger obviously not so much now, but also just like helping him around with his schoolwork I used to get to just like mock some of my teachers you know the way that they were in our classroom settings, so it was just fun doing that. And when he was really little, he just had so many questions and, you know, there were so many ways in which I could try out different ways of helping him.

Kanishka Seth:

And you know, as we saw more and more Khanmigo come on, for example, youtube, like I was like maybe you won't get something that I'm trying to say, but perhaps let's ask this person on the internet, you know. So just trying to be adaptable but also resourceful to help him out with his schoolwork all the way until he went to college, to be honest, like reading his college essays and trial interviewing with him. You know, just all of that fun stuff that I guess is not so fun when you're in. That you know. Yeah, but it just seemed like you know you're so smart, let me show you how you should be able to present yourself. You know you have all these skills. Let's refine and polish and use that talent Right. So definitely just like a genuine desire to want him to be successful, but also like a natural kind of calling, I suppose, where I was like oh, I know how to do this, let's try that, you know.

Amber Ivey:

Oh yeah, that's a beautiful story and just reminds us all of, like, how we get into spaces is very different, and I want to take you back to even before, or maybe during the time you're working with your brother, when you were a kid. What was the coolest thing you ever built or worked on in school? Like I know you were getting him excited about school, but what about for you?

Kanishka Seth:

I think in like fifth or sixth grade I built like this little cardboard robot which was like a box that was probably like packaged for a microwave or something. The robot did nothing, but I did manage to kind of convince my friends that this robot can detect lies. It's a lie detecting robot, because it was my initial days or experiences with creativity and storytelling, you know. So I created something and I built a story around it and I was like this can detect your lie. You should be honest.

Amber Ivey:

Imagine they believe you. And speaking of that robot, if you could actually create or invent an AI robot to help kids with something, what would it do and how would it help?

Kanishka Seth:

Oh gosh, there's so many things I would like for that, but definitely number one would be a procrastination eliminator robot tool. I think we all can benefit from that. So it doesn't have to be someone who's like mean or like you have to do this or else, but it should be something like you know, I think it's time for you to get your work done. Just, you know, kindly, gently, nudge me to get my work done and maybe, you know, gamify it to give me a reward or create some checkpoints or something like that. But also like, if I'm stuck, maybe it can just have a chat with me like, oh, why are you stuck? Are you feeling tired? Go take a walk. You know, maybe you're dehydrated, right. So not just like an organizational tool, but kind of like a wellbeing organizational.

Amber Ivey:

As I'm going to drink some water for the effect. That is super cool. So let's jump into just your work in general, and I love the idea of the procrastination robot, because I am a procrastinator. I'm like highly effective, but it is at the last minute, so I would also love an AI that helps me to navigate that and to tell me to go take a walk, because I love taking walks. I love to be able to be outside to think and be creative. So I want to dive into your work. So thank you for that idea. You've been using AI in your classroom, which is super interesting, and in a world where some people are, some people aren't, I really want to learn more. So can you explain how something like Khanmigo makes learning more fun and exciting for students?

Kanishka Seth:

Yeah, absolutely so. As I'm at Khan Lab School, I'm very fortunate to be working just on the floor below Khan Academy, which is a digital learning tool. They have a lot of really fun features in addition to just their math content that they publish, which is super popular, and I feel like I wouldn't have passed high school maths myself without Khan Academy, if I really think about it. So it's quite a full circle getting to work here. But also they have these really cool tools. I have a bunch of lesson planning tools that can help me make content relevant for students. It can help me create lesson plans, hooks, engaging activities, exit tickets and so much more. Students, on the other hand, can also be using this as their personal AI so they can chat with a subject specific chatbot, so you can select tutor me humanities, which is what my students use quite a bit in class, and they try to stretch their thinking, their ideas whenever we're working on projects. So they're like having a one on one chat with a peer almost, who's always like collaborating with them, who's got endless energy, and it's quite's quite kind. You know, it's not like they don't have to worry about their judgment and be a little bit anxious about oh no, what if they think I'm stupid? So I think that's a really nice thing.

Kanishka Seth:

So Kanmigo, like it, doesn't just give away answers as well. When you ask it some questions, it asks you questions back, you know, and it sparks curiosity. It's not supposed to help you just like find an easy shortcut, and it's designed to support students with their work and not like traditional AI platforms, it's a more student focused platform and they recently launched this thing called the writing coach, which is one of my absolute favorite things in class, and it works with students one-on-one to draft really solid essays. And where I am, you know, always short for time and not able to give in-detail feedback with every student at every stage, they're able to have multiple rounds of back and forth with the AI from Khanmigo writing coach and really refine their essays. So it helps students quite a bit. If Khanmigo says this doesn't sound very engaging, you can just go ahead and be like how can I make it more engaging, you know? And so it's like a big thought partner, always willing and ready to collaborate, and it's just, it's awesome for the kids.

Amber Ivey:

One of the things that I often talk about on this podcast probably every single episode, honestly is the application in education because, like, you're stretched thin and you have to do a lot of work with a lot of students and this serves as a helper for you to be able to give that one-on-one and probably tell you who needs more help and support. So it's very interesting to actually be in a room with an educator who can talk about this stuff. The other piece that educators often bring up as well as people who are not educators is that they're a little bit nervous they don't have Conmigo and they're a little bit nervous that kids are going to go on ChatGPT or on Cloud or whoever else is out there right and just plug stuff in. How can students use AI the right way, not just for answers, but for learning?

Kanishka Seth:

I feel like teachers are always trying to find a balance between, you know, letting students have autonomy, but then at what point does it become academic dishonesty?

Kanishka Seth:

Or how do we encourage more critical thinking, right, without just caring about grades? So I often like to tell my students that AI is like using a flashlight, like if you're in a dark cave which is your day-to-day life, your task at hand, and you have to make it through. It can help you see things, perhaps more clearly, but you still have to use your judgment Like is that thing that's approaching me gonna harm me, right? Is this something that I need to run from? Is this something that's not a threat? And should I go and explore further? Right, you still have to be the master of your own flashlight and decide where you point it right and find your way out of problems. So I definitely encourage use AI as a brainstorming tool, get feedback right, refine, refine again, ask further questions. It's free and also just like use it to learn new skills. There's so much that kids can do with this wonderful tool without having to kind of make it like a point of abusing it.

Amber Ivey:

Very true.

Kanishka Seth:

Yeah, like you have this wonderful partner in learning and a partner who's always down with so much energy and it works with your schedule, and a partner who's always down with so much energy, and it works with your schedule.

Amber Ivey:

Oh yeah, that's the part. I can't call someone up at all times of the day. Ai, you can.

Kanishka Seth:

Absolutely, and it will definitely be honest in their opinions because, not competing with you, it doesn't have a personal interest or something to lose or gain from your progress. So it's definitely not designed to kind of trick you in any way. It's supposed to just help you. But you still have to apply yourself at every step of the way.

Amber Ivey:

I love the flashlight example. If I use it, I will make sure to give you credit, because that just like opened my mind to even thinking about how to explain it to young people. So that's super helpful and I love that example and I'm sure our listeners will too. The other piece is that you love project-based learning, and one I need you to explain what that means. I think in general, most people will know, but I would love for you to explain that. But then how does AI make these projects even more cool, even more creative? What does that look like?

Kanishka Seth:

Yeah, ai takes projects to the next level in and outside the classroom both. Project-based learning is essentially a format, so it really kind of helps students contextualize what they're learning into how it's relevant to the real world. It gives them a more focused area that they care about a little bit more, because usually most teachers let students pick their own projects. For example, this is like a real life example, I suppose. If they're designing a business, they can use AI to create a logo, a slogan. You know your mission and vision statement. They can create customer feedback surveys through using AI. Without even having all of that knowledge like effectively or formally learned or taught in the classroom, you have like a whole creative team driving your entire project forward and that could be really fun. One of the projects that my students did in my previous role was to design a futuristic city. It was like a sustainable futuristic city and have like self-driving buses and AI powered recycling systems and you know it was. We need that everywhere.

Amber Ivey:

It's cool because, especially based on how kids learn and some kids learn in different ways like allowing a kid to, like, have a project or something that they're focused on, and then using AI to pull different components in. It's just a unique way to explore AI and I'm really excited about that.

Kanishka Seth:

It also lets students kind of hone their interests, like not every student would be interested in every single part of the content that is being taught, but they can take whatever strikes to them as like oh, this can be fun and really work with whatever inspires you to make that into something of your own, you know.

Amber Ivey:

Yeah, that's a good point. I never thought about that. So I come from the world of like teacher told you to do something. You partnered up with people and you all did it. Often a couple of people in the group did the bulk of the work.

Amber Ivey:

I didn't take the opportunity to learn, like, what was I good at in this project? And I love the idea of what you're talking about. That it can help me identify that I may love marketing or I may love the finance part of it and the numbers part of it, and help you think about what parts makes you excited, even as a young person, trying to figure out this world of just in general, beyond AI, just like what do I want to do when I grow up or what does that look like? It can help you identify those skills. That's really interesting to think about. I hadn't thought about that before.

Amber Ivey:

If you were to give advice to kids who are just starting to explore AI, it might feel a little intimidated or they're in a space where they're not supposed to use it. So we gotta be careful kids. You gotta get permission from your parents to use it before you do anything. We say going forward or in general. Also parents like. There are parents who are nervous about this and they want to let their kids use it, but they don't know what to do. What is advice that you have?

Kanishka Seth:

number one is, I think, don't be afraid to experiment, right? I keep telling kids in my classroom, beyond and just wherever is for kids. Firstly, it's free, it's not gonna cost you. Just, you know, don't be afraid to experiment. It's kind of like a sandbox, you know you can play.

Kanishka Seth:

So, essentially, it's impossible, it's impossible to master something this grand, right, there's so much out there. But also, you know, start something small and maybe not super ambitious and then see how far you can go. So, like, maybe, write a story or try to solve a riddle or a math problem and see, you know, how it it takes you, what works for you, right, not everything would be the same for you as the experiences of other people and for parents. I think think of ai as a tool, like a vehicle, right, and it's not a replacement for learning. The idea of using ai in education is not so that we don't teach our fundamental skills, right, our core skills are actually even more important in the day of AI than they ever were historically. But think of it like a calculator. You know where it helps, with the hard stuff or with the more time consuming stuff, but you still need to understand the basics.

Amber Ivey:

It's a tool, it's a vehicle. I love that. So, parents who are listening I imagine you're here because you want to know what your kids are listening to about this AI thing, but that's a very good point you're making and, with that being said, you've done some things, I'm sure, that are exciting, related to AI. Can you tell us about one of the most exciting AI projects your students have done, maybe something that could inspire other kids and their parents possibly to try AI projects too?

Kanishka Seth:

So I like to go back to the business one, because entrepreneurship is a big part of the stuff I like to teach. It's usually interdisciplinary and thanks to AI, I can weave even more disciplines into any class. So, using AI to design a logo, write product descriptions, explore the competition out there, explore a jetpack business, and they try to figure out where in the world it would be successful. And they come back after 20 minutes of, you know, going back and forth with the AI and they're just like well, the EU has a law on just electronic vehicles and a jetpack is run on fuel. And I was just like see, I would have never thought of that, I would have never been able to give you that advice.

Amber Ivey:

Yeah, I did. I was thinking in my head where would I send the kid?

Kanishka Seth:

I don't know like other than like california and silicon valley is my only like answer of like that's where they're doing some of the stuff, but that's a good idea yeah, it was like my parents are not always free to drive me to school or to the park or to my friend's place, so I can just jet on my own and I can come back, you know, and they can control it with their smartphones and I was like, okay, that's actually kind of really cool. It was really fun to just watch the process but also watch students take so much agency because they really cared to make this, and so it was like a real life example of combining creativity, technology while solving, like a real world problem that was real to the student's life, you know.

Amber Ivey:

Oh yeah, I can't do a jet pack because I'm afraid of height. The most in my mind I could do is like a hoverboard Other than that and it needs to be like less than a foot off the ground, that's where I'm at but a jet pack.

Amber Ivey:

I've seen some of them out there like folks playing around with versions of them. They're super cool. I mean we could be going around like that, less fuel being used, potentially even electronic ones like who knows. So it's going to be interesting to see. So shout out to that young person looking out for that company. If it happens, feel free to let us know.

Amber Ivey:

You heard it here first, right here. First AI for kids with Kanishka. So next I want to play a fun game with you. I think it's fun because I'm not in the hot seat. I'll be in the hot seat later, but this game is called AI in Action. I'm going to name a word and then you should tell us how you think AI might make it better. Are you ready?

Kanishka Seth:

Yeah, let's go.

Amber Ivey:

I'm going to make it as easy as possible and be as creative as possible.

Kanishka Seth:

A movie A movie. I think it would be fun to have an interactive movie. You know how Netflix is starting to do those game style things where you can pick the ending that you want or decide which character stays which doesn't. So definitely an interactive movie film where the audience gets to decide what happens next. So like a choose your own adventure on the big screen, I would love that for movies.

Amber Ivey:

One because I used to be a big choose your own adventure book reader back in the day and kids I don't know if y'all have these now. You may know more Kanishka than I do, but you would skip to a page based on where you want it to go in your story and you kind of did your own thing. So I imagine me sitting down either watching Netflix or even in the movie theater. We all could vote on what much fun. I love that idea, yeah it's awesome, sounds like fun.

Kanishka Seth:

The next one a game, and however you want to define game is up to you. As someone who historically is very competitive at games but also may not always win, I think it has to adapt to my level. I would like it to be like an adaptive game and if I'm struggling it should just adjust itself so that I can still win and I can still be competitive. I like that and if I'm crushing it, it should challenge me further, so that I can still win and I can still be competitive.

Kanishka Seth:

I like that, and if I'm crushing it, it should challenge me further, you know? Oh yeah, so it goes both ways.

Amber Ivey:

Yes, I'm also competitive. I'm also the person that starts at the beginning phase to like learn enough so I can get better with the game as it progresses. But I love the idea of it meets you where you are. So it's like oh, today Amber doesn't feel like doing this, so let's take it down a little bit for her, give her a few wins under her belt. I think that's super cool, yeah. And then the last one, because you're a teacher the subject of English.

Kanishka Seth:

I actually do teach English at middle school, so spot on. But I think AI could help students really write stories by suggesting plot twists, helping them create characters. It's quite fascinating. Sometimes my students ask the AI to pretend to be this character or take on a specific persona, like to really get inside your character's head. It's like co-authoring, you know, and it's got again endless ideas, endless time and flexibility.

Amber Ivey:

So yeah, definitely writing, you use the word persona. What does that mean for those who may not know what it means?

Kanishka Seth:

So, just like giving your AI a personality building, like this is what you do, this is what you like, this is what you would never say, you would never be mean to children, you would never be mean to old people, you know, like giving it some kind of like a list of traits that they have and maybe, if you want to even go deeper than that, you know key events in your life that may do the person that you are, you know, and then getting into that person's brain would be the next step of then kind of having a conversation with that AI character that you've just created.

Amber Ivey:

Thank you for that definition. I would not have been able to do it in that way. So again, learning a lot here today. Even kids adults can learn too. So what's one simple thing kids can do to use AI safely and responsibly? I feel like I'm always having this conversation. I've even added, like at the beginning of the podcast, a disclaimer, like to remind kids of this, especially with all the stuff that's happening in this space right now around like character AI and things like that. So what's a simple thing kids can do.

Kanishka Seth:

I think for the most part kids, you guys have your own judgment, you know. If you find yourself asking that, oh, should I be doing this or am I gonna get trouble because of this, probably should really evaluate that choice right. And also, when it specifically comes to learning and education and educational AI, I suppose you should really always try to reflect on is this really helping me learn or am I taking a shortcut, like, is this going to help me in the long term or is it just going to help me get through my homework and then go out and play? So you know, I think that's number one. You know, use your judgment, be wise. You are much smarter than the AI, so you should be able to answer these questions. But also not everything that AI says. It's true. It very much has its limitations. It hallucinates, it makes stuff up. Sometimes you can even ask the AI is this correct, is this a fact? And sometimes it says actually that in fact may not be factually correct.

Amber Ivey:

Exactly.

Kanishka Seth:

Think of it as someone that you can ask some questions to, but you cannot 100% rely on all the time.

Amber Ivey:

Agree, Agree. And how do you think AI will change just how we do homework and how kids learn in school in the future? I think you're at the forefront of this conversation and I want to hear it from you.

Kanishka Seth:

I think homework definitely has just become more fun and more personalized for students, especially, you know, in my years of working with generative AI in the classrooms. So definitely more personalized, more interactive. I imagine that every student has like an AI tutor, you know, to kind of fill in the gaps perhaps, which is quite nice to have for students who kind of struggle with confidence when asking the teacher for feedback or are perfectionists, you know it really helps them get that validation from this tool before they have to submit things. It can explain things to you in the way that makes sense to you. So I think definitely looking ahead, like AI is transforming every day how kids are, you know, even their attitudes towards homework, but as well as like how they actually execute.

Amber Ivey:

That's exciting. I would imagine if I were a kid in this world right now and being able to work with a AI tutor alongside my human tutor. It would be fun. I know I live on the different chatbots et cetera and I spend a lot of time there and I really enjoy it. I feel like I'm learning so much. I'm able to brainstorm and, like you said, if I don't have someone sitting next to me, this thing doesn't judge me. It's just helping me out to get to wherever it is I need to go when, in reality, because I don't have someone next to me that can help me think through, it is a really good learning partner.

Kanishka Seth:

And it explains new things in a way that would make sense to you. So you can really reiterate again and again or try a different approach.

Amber Ivey:

I like that too. I use AI to help break things down in a way a kid can understand when I'm like talking about stuff to adults, because often when you're in a field you get so technical or you get so into the weeds and you forget how to talk about stuff in a way that most people can understand. And it really helps. And even I know for my AI tools. I often say talk to me how I talk to you so I can better be able to meet it where it is. And that's a very good point. On what you just said around just helping kids in the way that they want to be helped, I think that's super cool. So if a kid is listening right now wanted to start learning about AI, what's a fun activity or project you suggest they try?

Kanishka Seth:

Ooh, there's so many, let's not be too ambitious, though. I want to give this other example that I think was really fun. One student in my class in the past has used AI to write a poem from the perspective of a rejected apple. Okay, and it was a commentary actually on food waste and how people don't buy food or farmers have to chuck a bunch of their produce out because of the way that the food or the produce looks right, because it was ugly fruit.

Kanishka Seth:

So they first, like, went and did all this research about to what extent is this actually a problem. They investigated how much food is thrown away because of it being ugly fruit and other things that are affected by this, like farmer's compensation, right, how much do we undercut them because of this. And then they used their knowledge to capture that into a poem which talks about in the ways that the apple actually can add value and think about the people who don't have anything, and there's more beyond what meets the eye, and it's just not about this rejected apple being so ugly, yeah, but you know, to the core, literally. So this was so much more impactful, like when they did a reading of this out loud. It had such a great impact on the listeners and definitely highlighted a problem more effectively than reading a report on this. You know.

Amber Ivey:

Oh yeah.

Kanishka Seth:

Yeah, so this kind of creativity and this kind of creative use or application of AI just like really fascinates me. And if they could talk about apples being ugly that with like a massive research, you know, project backing this creative project. I really want to say, kids, deep opportunities are endless. Find your passions, try your things and honestly learn more about yourself. Right, what you care about by having these endless conversations.

Amber Ivey:

You just explaining and sharing just some of the things that were in the poem literally like opened my mind, because there are companies that are trying to solve the problem like very few, but they like charge you less for fruit that is bruised or has an issue.

Amber Ivey:

But, to your point, like we have a big food crisis in the world Like what does it mean to then have this young person study all this, come to AI and say, hey, let's create something fun that's going to resonate with people, that's going to make people feel like this is something they can possibly even help be a part of? And I appreciate you sharing that story, because these are things I just don't think about. Even as a person who uses the thing daily, all day, every day, there's some moments where I'm like, oh wow, I wouldn't think about that. And as a person who also writes reports and things like that, reports often go unread and no one like works on all that. So what is a creative way and this is a great example of how you can do that For sure, what is the coolest AI tool or app you've ever seen and why do you think kids would like it?

Kanishka Seth:

I like for kids specifically, I think, something like Dolly, where you can create visuals, you know, based on whatever you have in your mind. Oh yeah, I think that's definitely something always gets me Like. I'm always like, well, right, but what's fun for kids specifically and I also speaking from experience from students in the classrooms you can literally type anything like a description of anything and then it will create art, and it's sometimes so good that you want to frame it and put it in your living room. A dragon playing basketball in Paris and boom, there, it is Like a dragon wearing a jersey flying over the Eiffel Tower. The kids love it, you know, and they love the trial and error process of it and they're refining their prompt process of it. And it can be quite comical as well, you know.

Amber Ivey:

Yeah, that one alone is comical. Imagine if you're a kid listening to this. I didn't even think about this. I just recently used AI to redecorate my bottom floor. So I took a picture of the space and used Dolly actually so kids actually use this to do something with and it helped me to find different things. Took a picture of my floor. It gave me an idea. I wanted trendy colors, whatever trying to like be hip, and then it gave me a visual of the room. Then I was like, oh, tell me where I can find things that look like this. And then it gave me the links to it. But what I didn't think about until today again, learning, even as adults is we can print out the art and decorate the room. So if there was something that I made in that space, like the dragon playing basketball in the Apple Tower and that's my room theme I can print out a huge poster and put it on my wall.

Kanishka Seth:

I love that. And kids do that, absolutely. Try it out. It is quite fun.

Amber Ivey:

Oh yeah, you've just taken it to a different level for me, so now it's time to put me in the hot seat. We have a fun bio segment that kind of goes into your bio and it's called two truths and a dream. You're going to share two things that are true about you and one dream job or experience that you had as a kid. That didn't necessarily happen, but you wanted it to. So let's see if I can guess, along with the kids at home, what is the dream job or experience, and feel free to name them in any order you want to, and then we'll go back and forth.

Kanishka Seth:

All right, I'll make it an easy enough one. So thank you. I've used Khanmigo in my classroom. I have worked as a project manager. Okay, as a kid I wanted to become a video game designer.

Amber Ivey:

Okay, so you've used Khanmigo in your classroom, you've worked as a project manager and as a kid you want to be a video game designer. Yep, so kids. If we think back to her interview, one of the things she did tell us is that she is using Khanmigo. So we can put that one aside and say that is in fact, true. The one I'm a bit Khanmigo on only because you have a tech background, so often a lot of people in tech do do project management. You also are very competitive, so you might have wanted to create games. So I'm gonna say that because you are in tech and likely had to project manage or used to be in tech and had the project manage something, you are a project manager. I'm gonna say the dream job or idea is game creator spot on, okay good yeah, hopefully kids at home also got that right.

Amber Ivey:

What's one big idea? You hope kids listening today will remember about AI yeah, I as a tool.

Kanishka Seth:

You are a creator. You know it's your, your creativity and your curiosity that really bring it forward. So you are in control.

Amber Ivey:

And if you could recommend one person in AI that kids should follow or learn from, who would it be and why?

Kanishka Seth:

Yeah, so she's a local Bay Area celebrity. Her name's Dr Fei-Fei Li. She's from Stanford, she is a woman in AI and she's been in this space for about more than a decade. She's from Stanford. She is a woman in AI and she's been in this space for about more than a decade. She's quite a trailblazer. But she also talks about a lot of like technology for good and AI for good. So her focus on using AI for healthcare or education I think those are really important topics. Yeah, In addition to just like breaking the glass ceiling, she's a trailblazer. She's trying to encourage and promote the positive uses of tech. I think starting there would be a great place to start.

Amber Ivey:

Yeah, I will definitely link information about her in the show notes kit, so make sure you work with your parents to get that. Is there anything fun or cool you'd like to share with our listeners, or anything? I didn't ask you that you want to make sure you share before we say goodbye.

Kanishka Seth:

I would like to give the listeners a little task, actually, if they want, with AI. Do this with your parents. You know older siblings, you know. A fun challenge for all the kids listening would be to ask any AI tool. You know something that you can converse with back and forth. Ask this AI to help you create a superhero. What kind of power do you want them to have? What's the backstory you know that the superhero has. They have a scar. Did they fall when they were playing basketball as a kid? All sorts of things. Why do they wear glasses? Do they speak multiple languages? And let your imagination run wild. Be as specific and as general as you can and just try it out. You'll be surprised by the result, but you'll also learn something about what really matters to you. What are your true values? You know why do you want your superhero to be that person? So you know, have a way with it.

Amber Ivey:

Kanishka, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your amazing AI ideas and just your journey and to all of our listeners. Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe to AI for Kids and stay curious. Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe to AI for Kids and stay curious.

Kanishka Seth:

Thank you Bye.

Amber Ivey:

Thank you for joining us as we explore the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. Don't keep this adventure to yourself. Download it, share it with your friends and let everyone else in on the fun. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube. See you next time on AI for Kids.

People on this episode

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Amber Ivey (AI)

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