The goal of the startup – reducing the AI gaps in education in Israel in routine and emergency situations through the programming of robots made from waste.
The Israeli startup Junk-AI won an international competition to reduce the AI gap in education in Israel and beat 155 competing companies.
The startup, founded by Tamir Neve and Daniel Greenberg, developed a platform that allows students to learn artificial intelligence in an experiential and valuable way. The platform is based on robots made of waste, and students learn how to program them to perform various tasks.
Entrepreneur Tamir Neve: “There is an unimaginable load of packaging that piles up in the orange recycling bin. We decided to promote the discarded wealth, and turn it into educational tools that can help students learn artificial intelligence in a fun and meaningful way.”
Winning the competition is an important achievement for Junk-AI, and it is expected to help the company expand its activities and reach a larger audience of students.
The importance of learning artificial intelligence in education
The idea of integrating artificial intelligence into education takes on special importance when you understand how critical the impact of artificial intelligence is to the future of the labor market. Along with the many benefits it has introduced into our lives, there is also the fear that more and more jobs will be eliminated as a result of the introduction of innovative technology into our lives, and that many people will find themselves without work.
Studying artificial intelligence in education can help students understand the technology and acquire the necessary skills to face the challenges it poses. Junk-AI’s platform is one example of how artificial intelligence can be integrated into education in an experiential and valuable way.
The fear of job losses due to artificial intelligence is justified, but it should not deter us from educating the next generation to use this technology. On the contrary, it is important to train students for a future where artificial intelligence will be an integral part of our lives.
The Junk-AI platform is an excellent educational tool to achieve this goal. It allows students to learn about artificial intelligence in an experiential and valuable way, while helping to reduce the amount of waste in the world.
The use of old toys as raw material for the platform is an original and creative idea. He encourages students to think outside the box and find new solutions to environmental problems.
the way to success
Junk-AI winning the competition is another proof that Israeli startups continue to lead in the field of technology. The company managed to develop an innovative platform with great potential, and it is expected to continue to succeed and expand its activities in the future.
Tamir Neve, who founded the project about three years ago and is also known as the founder of the Hebrew blog for artificial intelligence – Ai-blog . says:
“This painful phenomenon gave rise to the question of how the limited physical world can create competition for the infinite virtual world. A physical toy or product remains constant and does not change, and the consumer only consumes it and does not create something new from it. On the other hand, there is an unimaginable load of packaging that piles up in the orange recycling bin, Or worse, in the usual bins. We decided in this venture to promote this wealth that was thrown away,” he points out.
So how does the project work ?
“Junk-AI developed a platform for learning the logic of artificial intelligence through the programming of robots made from electronic waste. Thus, the children bring scrap or old toys from home – and create robots from them. Then, they program them in Python code and create AI-based models that control them. Hence the name Artificial intelligence for junk (Junk-AI),” Neve explains. “The exercises in the curriculum use robots created by the students, and of course in projects created by the children, such as virtual games, which are then realized with robots.”
What do the children actually create ?
“When the children create robots from scraps, beyond the value of existence that we convey, the variety of creative possibilities is endless because everything is cheap and available. For example, a game of robot soccer, football, hide and seek between cat and mouse, Pacman, and more. Any cheese box, roll of toilet paper, and everything you find in the recycling bins can be used by us. The children create the robot in the first session of the program, and for the rest of the year they learn to program in Python, within the principles of deep machine learning.”
Today the company works with schools and community centers for children aged 12-16. In the future they intend to appeal to private consumers and younger ages.
The startup was chosen by the jury from 155 startups from around the world that deal with the connection between AI and education and were submitted to the competition, with 8 of them advancing to the final stage. The winning solution will be implemented in Israel in the network of schools of the Branco Weiss Institute and will represent the course in the global finals of the GESA competition in London. In the future, apart from the winner, some of the startups will also be included in a number of pilots in Israel, financed by Bezeq.
