https://scratchfoundation.org/blog/coming-soon-your-creative-learning-assistant ^Link is to the official ST blog on their website. Guys, it's gonna be okay. We were freaking out for pretty much no reason. (altho the AI does seem kinda unnecessary. . . >:\) <3
In case you can’t visit the ST blog - “Imagine if every child could design their own creative assistant that reflects how they think, what excites them, and how they want to learn. We’re bringing that vision to life through an AI-powered tool that puts creative control in kids’ hands. Whether they want a debugging assistant, a storytelling partner, or a discovery tool to find peers and projects, young people decide how their assistant helps them create. For nearly two decades, children have been using Scratch to create, connect, and grow. Scratch made coding creative. Now, it’s doing the same for AI. We’re excited to announce the upcoming Creative Learning Assistant (CLA), a new, opt-in feature designed to support children as they learn and create with Scratch. The CLA offers help only when asked, guiding young creators through moments of curiosity and uncertainty while prioritizing their agency. Beyond assistance, it reimagines search and discovery as a dynamic, social, and reflective experience that surfaces surprising ideas, enables personalized exploration, and amplifies peer connection. With the CLA, every child can find the right inspiration at the right time for them. Meet Scratch’s CLA Scratchers create nearly half a million projects every day, and they need a wide range of support: some could use a little assistance to find out why their code isn’t working the way they want it to, while others are stuck imagining what to create. Three in four Scratchers never share a project, hampering their ability to find support and connections within the community. We’re envisioning a different path forward. With the help of a creative co-pilot, Scratchers will be supported through every stage of the creative learning spiral: Imagine → Create → Play → Share → Reflect. Unlike conventional AI tools that focus on efficiency or automation, the CLA is built to nurture curiosity, spark ideas, and deepen learning. Research shows that when kids connect with peers in positive digital spaces, their sense of well-being soars. That’s why we’re designing our CLA to bring Scratchers together. Imagine a child who loves to dance, stuck wondering how others sync up their animations to music in Scratch. Our CLA can break her question down into manageable steps that guide her to learn from her peers in the community. It may start by recommending she check out a dance party animation made by a fellow Scratcher. Then, it could prompt her to open the project’s code and explore the scripts that help the characters move in time to the beat. Once she’s improved her timing, the CLA could congratulate her and suggest that she leave a comment to thank the Scratcher who taught her something new. What was previously a frustrating, solitary roadblock transforms into a guided, social, and reflective experience. Committed to Our Values We’re centering our work in AI around the 4 Cs: developing features that nurture curiosity, caring, collaboration, and creativity. As our founder Professor Mitchel Resnick has shared, these attributes are more critical now than ever: We need to expand opportunities for children to develop the most human of their abilities. That is, we need to help them develop as creative, curious, caring, and collaborative learners. These qualities have always been important, but they are more important now than ever before, given the technological and political disruptions confronting today’s societies. — Prof. Mitchel Resnick”
