School of Fun for Children in Fukushima

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

In February, during Japan's scattered holidays, we held an online camp called "Academy Camp VR 2023.2-3 'POWER TO THE PEOPLE'." The camp was attended by 8 children from 2nd grade elementary school to 3rd grade junior high school students. Our main objective was to help the participants harness the power of AI technologies like ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion to create their desired VR experiences and to help humans showcase their abilities by doing so.

The camp began with the children engaging in a word-chain game with ChatGPT. They then asked the AI to assume various roles including cicada larvae, create comparison tables for similar words, and come up with prompts for image generation. The children also challenged ChatGPT to a deduction game, but the AI proved to be a formidable opponent, posing difficult questions for the participants.

During the camp, the children revisited two VR worlds they had previously created: the Cell World and the Unprecedented World. For the Unprecedented World, the participants brainstormed new ways to play together. They generated so many ideas that the online whiteboard was filled with sticky notes, showcasing their creativity and collaboration.

Finally, this camp ended with a promise to meet again at the March camp and to try to make some progress on what we want to do before then.

Links:

• Academy Camp Facebook page in English

Please find a Japanese version of this report here.

During a three-day weekend in January in Japan, we held our first physical camp in over three years. In this camp, children created picture books with AI, using a large language model, automatic translation (from Japanese to English to feed the text into generative AI) and picture generation. Thirteen children, from 2nd to 9th graders, participated from over Japan, including Fukushima.

For safety and emergence, we used the buddy system throughout the camp, children working in pairs or trios. The children worked with their buddies whether they were using metropolitan transportation, spending time in the accommodation, or creating picture books.

At first we learned from existing picture books. Then we learned how to use AI, and about 3 hours later, some kind of work was already born. Children enjoyed eating, playing games, and even inventing a new sport while brushing up their works. Finally, the "storytelling session" was telecast live on the Internet for the children's families to watch.

At the closing ceremony, a junior high school student commented, "At first, when I heard that the AI was to create both the pictures and the story, I thought, well then, don't they need us at all? But when we actually tried it, I thought it's great that humans and AI can work together to create a work of art." Isn’t it? Let's challenge more from now on!

Links:

• Academy Camp Facebook page in English