The SHATRANJ.AI project aims to build an artificial intelligence curriculum based on historic board games for youth development. The interest in board games in the early grades of K-12 education could be channeled into a coding and AI curriculum that can be easily implemented as an optional club hour or as an after-school activity during K-12. Simultaneously, the history of games and puzzles as cultural artifacts of European and neighboring regions will be explored.
The project will start with an analysis of classical board games and their historic and cultural significance to the European Union and neighboring regions. In the next phase, we will build a 32-lesson AI curriculum and integrate it with a mobile-friendly learning management system, using the chosen board games as coding exercises with video instruction. Then, our curriculum will be piloted in various youth settings, both as an in-school and an after-school activity.
The project will enable the youth to build a board game AI that will be able to analyze historically significant algorithmic and board game puzzles. It will also enable instructors to introduce AI as an optional subject in schools and after-school programs. Thus, the youth will not only develop AI coding skills for youth employability but also a cross-cultural understanding of the history of board games. Furthermore, a traveling exhibition will disseminate project outputs worldwide.
