Video: AI in Action: Cloud Computing
Wow, that's a big queue! That ice cream must be pretty delicious. Your stand is very popular. Oh, what's that in the water? A sea turtle. Mmm… It looks a bit worried. I wonder if it needs something. Are you going to ask AI?
Good idea! Oh, careful with the tablet. It’s just waiting to send your question to the AI in the cloud. Not an actual cloud, but a place on the internet where information is stored and processed. Are you connected to the internet? Great!
When you ask AI a question, it breaks your question into tiny blocks of information. Hop on. Let's see what happens next.
Your question travels over the internet. Eventually, your question ends up in a place like this. It’s called a data centre. There are many data centres like this one all over the world, and they often work together. Oh look, here comes your question now.
AI is really good at maths. It turns your question into numbers, then looks for patterns to help it understand what you mean. Once AI reads your question, it predicts the best answer. Then it sends the answer back to your device.
AI says at this time of year, sea turtles often return to the same beach to lay their eggs. The problem is, they won't lay their egg sunless there's plenty of peace and quiet. We should help get everyone out of the way. Are you worried that this might also be a nesting ground for sea turtles?
Great idea! Ask AI what beaches sea turtlelike to nest on. Okay. Let's see. AI says that it can't tell you about every single beach in the world. There are just too many. Ah, but wait. It says that there isa big research project where scientists are using AIto answer your question. These scientists have been studying sea turtles, learning where they swim, eat, and travel using years of research and local knowledge. Then they use AI to organise and understand all that information. So now we can predict which beaches the sea turtles are most likely to nest on.
We really learned a lot today. Now we know about cloud computing and data centre sand a lot about sea turtles. And you learned how to use big computer power to solve big problem sand help everyone, even the very small.
Video summary
Animated video: 2 min 54 sec
Agent and Chicken are working an ice cream stand on the beach when they notice a sea turtle that seems to be distressed. They decide to use AI to find out if they can help.
They learn about using Wi-Fi to connect their tablet to the 'cloud', a place on the internet where information is stored.
They learn that a data centre contains the computers that make AI work. They learn that AI turns their questions into numbers, looks for patterns to help it understand, and then predicts what the best answer might be. This video reminds us that an AI tool must collect and organise information before it can suggest an answer to a question (the AI tool doesn’t just “know’ the answer).
The AI on their tablet suggests that sea turtles often return to the same beach year after year to lay their eggs, but only if there is peace and quiet. They decide to move their ice cream stand away from the nesting site, allowing the baby sea turtles to hatch safely.
This animation was produced by Minecraft Education and Microsoft in collaboration with BBC Bitesize.
There are more Minecraft Education videos and resources on Bitesize for Teachers here. Each video invites children on a journey alongside Chicken and Agent to explore the world of AI, and each is accompanied by curriculum links and teaching notes.
Minecraft Education’s AI Foundations program offers a set of learning materials and immersive games for building AI literacy, designed to empower students, educators, and families with a fundamental understanding of how AI works and how to use AI tools responsibly.
Teaching guide
Learning objectives
England Computing National Curriculum
- I am learning to understand computer networks including the internet
- I am learning about how they can provide multiple services, such as the World Wide Web
- I am learning about the opportunities they offer for communication & collaboration
- I am learning how to use technology respectfully & responsibly
- I am learning to be discerning in evaluating digital content
Education for a Connected World 2020: Managing Information Online
- I can evaluate digital content and can explain how to make choices about what is trustworthy.
- I can analyse information to make a judgement about probable accuracy, and I understand why it is important to make my own decisions regarding content.
Glossary
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology | Computer programs created by humans to solve problems, answer questions and carry out tasks independently. AI tools are trained to spot patterns and adapt to new information. |
| The Cloud | A place on the internet that stores information that we can access from nearly anywhere. |
| Data | information that has not been sorted or organised yet. |
| Data centre | A large building full of computers that store information. Data centres are connected to the Internet and are part of what we call the cloud. |
| Research project | A collection of experiments and investigations to find out more information about how something works, or why things behave in a certain way. |
Topic introduction and starters
Before the video
- Ask the children if they have heard of The Cloud, what they think it is and where they think it is located. They could also draw a quick sketch of what they think it might look like.
After the video
- Revisit their ideas and drawings of the cloud and discuss what they now understand it to be. Make a new drawing or diagram, with labels to explain the details.
- Discuss any recent science activities that pupils have carried out and compare them to the sea turtle research project from the video.
Discussion points
- How does information get from a data centre to a tablet device or smart phone?
- Is asking AI a question just the same as using a search tool (like Yahoo or Google)?
- Can we trust AI to always give the right answers to a problem? How can we check?
Further questions to research
- Why have I never seen a data centre near where I live?
- Why is the cloud called “the cloud” when it is not in the sky?
Activities
AI Researcher Role Play
Discuss how AI tools search and organise lots of different information before they answer a question. Think about how we do the same thing when we carry out an investigation, perhaps in Science or Geography.
Set up a treasure hunt activity where there are various bits of information (images, facts cards, numbers, descriptions) about a topic scattered around the classroom. When organised the pieces of information answer a specific question. Topics could include the sea turtle example from the video, or recent class Science or Geography activities.
Role play being the AI in small groups, searching for and collecting the pieces of information then organising it to produce an answer to a question. The pieces could literally fit together like a jigsaw to support pupils with SEND.
This activity will support the understanding that an AI tool must collect and organise information before it can suggest an answer to a question. The AI tool doesn’t just “know’ the answer.
Internet Mind Map
Revisit the explanations of a data centre and the Cloud from the video and revise any previous understanding about The Internet and the World Wide Web. Remind pupils that the Internet is a network of connected computers and devices, and the World Wide Web is information stored on devices connected to that network.
Ask children to work in pairs on large sheets of sugar paper to create a mind map-style diagram of the Internet, the World Wide Web, Data Centres and any other features they might already know, included servers, clients etc.
This activity could also be carried out with ICT, using a mind-mapping tool or application. Add AI to the mind map to support their understanding of how AI works, based on prior knowledge and this video.
This activity will consolidate prior learning about structure of the Internet and how new elements like data centre, the Cloud and AI tools fit into this landscape.
