The Klokhuis Explains: What is Artificial Intelligence?
amsterdam, donderdag, 14 augustus 2025.
The popular children’s programme The Klokhuis has aired an episode that explains the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) in an accessible way for young people. The broadcast discusses applications of AI in daily life, such as chatbots, voice recognition, and photo searching. An intriguing detail: AI can sometimes make incorrect decisions, such as mistaking a husky for a wolf, which shows how important good training is for AI systems.
The Klokhuis Explains: What is Artificial Intelligence?
The popular children’s programme The Klokhuis has aired an episode that explains the concept of artificial intelligence (AI) in an accessible way for young people. The broadcast discusses applications of AI in daily life, such as chatbots, voice recognition, and photo searching. An intriguing detail: AI can sometimes make incorrect decisions, such as mistaking a husky for a wolf, which shows how important good training is for AI systems [1].
AI in Daily Life
AI is already playing an increasingly significant role in our daily lives. Think of chatbots that help you place an order, voice commands you use to operate your phone, and photo searches that help you find specific images. In the episode of The Klokhuis, it becomes clear how these technologies work and how they enrich our lives [2].
How Does AI Work?
AI is trained by inputting large amounts of data, such as videos, texts, photos, and sounds. The system learns to recognise patterns and make predictions. For example, if you train an AI system to recognise dogs, you feed it lots of photos and say: ‘This is a dog’ and ‘This is not a dog’. Over time, the system can predict whether a particular photo depicts a dog [3].
The Challenges of AI
A significant challenge with AI is understanding how the system works. This is known as the ‘black box’ problem, because we often don’t know exactly how an AI system arrives at certain decisions. This can lead to errors, such as mistaking a husky for a wolf, because the system may focus on unexpected features, like the background in a photo [4].
Applications in Society
AI is also used in various societal areas. For example, in Amsterdam, smart traffic lights are being deployed to optimise traffic flow. If there are many cyclists waiting, the traffic light stays green for longer. Additionally, smart microphones are being tested that can recognise distress sounds such as breaking glass or cries for help, allowing emergency services to arrive more quickly [5].
Benefits and Challenges
AI offers many benefits, such as improving information transfer and reaching various target groups. For example, it can help make complex information accessible to young people, as seen in The Klokhuis. However, there are also challenges, such as privacy, inclusivity, and reliability. It is crucial to understand how AI works and how it is trained to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks [6].
In Conclusion
The episode of The Klokhuis demonstrates how AI enriches our lives and the various applications it has in daily life. It also emphasises the important role of good training and understanding how AI works to use the technology safely and efficiently [7].