I am getting this question often: "What should be teaching our kids?"

Magnificent question, for which I am a terrible person to answer.

I don't have kids (cute dog though!), and I don't know.

But this Little MIT experiment might hold the answer.

THE MIT Media Lab has launched a project called Little Language Models, designed to introduce kids (ages 8-16) to the fundamentals of AI through a platform called CoCo.

Here they’re actively building small-scale AI models with a focus on “probabilistic thinking”— a mindset shift toward understanding uncertainty and prediction.

They’re encouraged to explore how language models work, test out prompts, and experiment with AI “recipes” that help them see how different inputs can lead to varying outputs. In essence, they’re learning how to shape the behavior of AI, rather than just consuming it. They are becoming Future AI modelers.

And what’s particularly brilliant here is the emphasis on ethical thinking. Kids are prompted to think about bias, fairness, and the social impact of AI.

What we're creating is little "Mini-me's" who’ve grown up exploring these ethical layers right alongside the technical.

You can read more on the project here.

And in a way, if we are doing this for our kids, shouldn't we be doing it in our organizations?

"Marco, we are NOT kids!". I know.

But with such a new technology, impacting so many of our lives... at work and at home.

Shouldn't we all be striving to do the same for Mini-me's and adults alike?

I'll see you next week.

‍