Children’s imaginations ran wild at the AI fairytale workshop by Alma and Google

Last Friday was the national Children’s Day at Work, and about a hundred little guests arrived at Alma House to learn about their parents’ work. As part of the program, Alma Media and Google organized an AI fairytale workshop where children of all ages got to create stories using Google’s Storybook tool.

The workshop was led by Google’s Account Executive Anni Myyrä, who is a former Finnish teacher. In the beginning she introduced the elements of a good story, such as characters, setting, and plot twists. The idea for the workshop was developed together with Alma’s AI Lead for Sales and Marketing, Arttu Ruotsalainen.

“AI is a hot topic right now, and even children can’t avoid it. Together with Google, we want to help ensure that these tools are used responsibly”, says Ruotsalainen.

Although AI was used, the main focus remained on the children’s own imagination.

“It’s great to work with Google also in this kind of context. This way, we can give children hands-on, responsible experiences with AI. When kids see that AI is a tool to support their own creativity, we’re also laying the foundation for how future generations will use AI”, Ruotsalainen continues.

The workshop was part of the diverse collaboration between Alma and Google.

An important day for both adults and the children

Alma has organized Children’s Day at Work for several years now. The day has been popular among both adults and children.

“I’ve noticed that this day is important to Alma employees, because it connects two big and important parts of life: family and work. It’s nice to be able to show children where their parent spends a large part of the day and what they actually do at work”, says Lotta Väinölä, Head of Employer Branding at Alma Media.

We got a few comments from the kids themselves:

“In my story, there was a mouse who was afraid of a cat, but eventually they became friends.”

“My mom works on the computer and goes to meetings. The best part of the day was the meeting I got to join.”

The nationwide Children’s Day at Work is part of Children’s Rights Week, and the aim is to highlight the voices of children of different ages. At the same time, the goal is to show children where adults work, what working life is like, and the different kinds of professions that exist.

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