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Full sample chapter · AI for Kids
The Room-Sized Computer
Twenty short chapters help readers ages 8 to 10 understand how AI began, how it works, how to use it wisely, and how people can shape its future.
2.1
A computer fills a room
The first electronic computers were giants.
They used thousands of parts and needed whole teams of people to run them.
2.2
Tiny lights called vacuum tubes
Hot glass tubes worked like switches.
A computer used many switches to turn signals on and off very quickly.
2.3
Meet the mainframe
A mainframe is one big computer shared by many people.
Governments, universities, banks, and large companies used mainframes for important work.
2.4
Punch cards go in
People carried programs in stacks of cards.
Each card held a tiny part of the instructions or information.
2.5
Answers come out
Early computers did not chat back.
They often printed answers on long sheets of paper after people waited for their turn.