At "AI Robotics," as this month's Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG) meetup was called, something felt a little different the moment you walked into the building. Yes, there were the robots, and that was very exciting – but this wasn't the first night that RMAIIG had featured robots.
And there were about 200 of the usual suspects — founders, enthusiasts, and AI-curious professionals. But weaving in and out of the crowd, often moving faster than the grown-ups, were the kids. More kids than I can ever remember seeing at an RMAIIG event.
Our AI Pic of the Week captures two of these kids, standing shoulder to shoulder, completely absorbed in a robot being demoed at the robotics fair. It's the kind of enthusiasm you cannot fake – and which can't be replicated by anything they see on their iPads.
For today's kids, robots are nothing like what we might have seen on a campy old TV show, in a silly tabletop game from Mattel, or in scary, apocalyptic movies from the 1980's and 90's. They're just real life.
That’s what stuck with me.
We talk a lot in Colorado and RMAIIG circles about talent pipelines, STEM education, and how to prepare the next generation for an AI-saturated world. Sometimes that conversation can feel abstract. But on this particular evening, it looked like something much simpler: kids getting hands-on time with robots, asking questions, and seeing that these systems are not magic. They are built, tuned, and controlled by people. People like them. (And in some cases, by the kids themselves.)
When asked about the AI Robotics session, Dan Murray, the founder of RMAIIG, had this to say:
It was truly gratifying to see how many kids attended the RMAIIG AI Robotics event. When a 10-year-old exhibitor proudly shows off a robot dog he built himself, you realize how powerful embodied AI can be for young people. For kids, AI becomes real the moment it moves, responds, and lives inside a device they can see and touch.
Will every child who watched (or made) a robot pivot, or wave an articulated arm end up working in AI or robotics? Of course not. But no matter what these kids end up doing in their careers – whether they become poets, politicians, or psychologists – moments like this matter and will stick with them a long time. These moments turn “robot” from a distant sci-fi or fantasy concept into something you can stand next to, poke at, and maybe someday improve.
Pulling back to look at the larger picture, Murray said, "I believe society is at an inflection point for AI robotics. Over the next year or two, you’re going to see an explosion of AI robots out ‘in the wild’ – far beyond what we see today."
He continued, "LLMs have completely reshaped how robots interact with humans, freeing us from the old model of scripting every question and answer. Now, robots can engage with people naturally and flexibly, and that shift fundamentally changes the game.”
With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, this photo feels like it represents a multitude of things we can be grateful for:
- A community that values education, learning, and intellectual curiosity
- A nonprofit like RMAIIG that welcomes both technical and non-technical parents – and their kids
- Entrepreneurs and innovators who take the time to show everyone how the tech actually works
- An interested and engaged rising generation (Gen Alpha) that will inherit — and improve upon — what we’re building today
The robots in the room were impressive. The kids – and all the rest of the humans involved – were equally so.
The writer is a member of the executive committee and the board of advisors of RMAIIG.
