2024 summarized for your Child - Important Tech Milestones your child should know
This is a list of Tech Milestones that humans achieved in 2024 that will impact your child's future. Make sure you go through the list with your child and explain the significance of each of them.
Wow, what a year 2024 has been for humans. It feels like something right out of a sci-fi movie. After a couple of decades of building software, websites, apps and moving data between the servers, humans are back to building some “Real Stuff” - like Rockets and Robots.
This will significantly change the world we are living in and the world your child will grow into. So it is extremely important for you as a parent to understand this and help your child understand it too.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the coolest inventions from this year that every kid and parent should know about!
Student of the Month!
Before we move ahead, we are thrilled to announce Playto Labs’ “Student of the Month” - Bhumika Padhy, from Texas USA! 🎉
Bhumika built a “Robotic Arm” using the skills gained as a student at Playto Labs, which helped us earn a spot in the prestigious ISS Build Team, where she will work on a project related to ISS (International Space Station). We congratulate her on this achievement and wish her much more future success.
Congratulations, Bhumika! 🚀 Keep reaching for the stars! 🌟
SpaceX “catches” the Rocket that returned from Space
SpaceX made history with Starship Flight 5 by successfully launching its massive rocket and catching the booster using the special "chopstick" arms on the launch tower.
This is the first time a booster has been caught at the launch pad, bringing SpaceX closer to making rockets fully reusable and space travel more affordable.
Watch the incredible moment captured in the video below:
This will bring down the cost of launching satellites and the time taken to get the rocket ready for the next launch. And so we should expect super progress in Space launches going forward.
With the “catch” of the Starship booster, we are closer to the ability to send humans to the Moon and Mars by lifting data centers, space stations, and other large capacities into space.
And we’ll be able to transport humans and cargo around planet Earth in 40 minutes or less, opening up unprecedented industries and access.
2025 could be the beginning of fiction becoming reality.
Tesla’s Humanoid Robots in Action
Tesla moved very close to launching humanoid robots that can stay with you in your house and do everything you need - laundry, cooking, cleaning and serving you drinks. Imagine Robots doing everything just like a human would do and more - example they can lift far heavier weights and can work for hours without getting bored or tired.
This can has a huge impact on the world as we know it - In helathcare, they can assist in elderly people, perform precision surgeries, and provide mental health support. In factories, they can take on the jobs of working in hazardous environments and can assist during disaster responses. Humanoids could also assist people with disabilities and help them perform tasks like everyone else!
The Jobs of the Future will be in Hardware-Software -Andressen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz (one of the world’s best Venture Capital firms) believes that 2025 will see accelerated demand for: electrical engineers, controls engineers, mechanical and mechatronics engineers, manufacturing engineers, RF engineers, industrial engineers, test engineers, quality engineers, and high-skilled technicians/robotic teleoperators of all types.
They believe that the growth in some of these sectors may even outpace that of “traditional” software engineering over the next decade.
Atlas Robot by Boston Dynamics
The Atlas robot by Boston Dynamics can run, jump, and even do backflips—just like a human! It's super agile and can move easily through tough terrains.
Atlas uses smart AI and sensors to help it navigate tricky places, making it perfect for dangerous jobs. Imagine a robot helping in places where humans can't go!
This launch shows us how robots like Atlas could change the future, helping in rescue missions, construction, and much more. It’s an exciting peek into the world of robots.
Google Quantum computer Chip
Google made a groundbreaking leap with its new quantum chip, Willow.
This chip can perform calculations in under five minutes that would take today's fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years! That's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years!
Willow's incredible speed and accuracy bring us closer to the dream of large-scale quantum computers.
These powerful machines could revolutionize fields like medicine, energy, and artificial intelligence.
Generative AI: Getting closer to AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is rapidly becoming a reality as AI systems are now achieving human-like cognitive abilities across a wide range of tasks.
Recent advancements, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT o3 update, have sparked debates about whether we are on the brink of creating AGI.
Here is a video explaining ChatGPT o3
These systems are not only performing complex tasks but also demonstrating adaptability and reasoning skills that were once thought to be uniquely human.
While we are not there yet, the progress suggests that AGI could be within reach, promising a future where AI can assist with almost any cognitive task, revolutionizing industries and daily life.
Imagine your child having a career in a world with AGI. How does that look? How can your child prepare for that? It is time to think about it very seriously for today’s parents.
AI writes complete Software. The world will not need Software Engineers anymore soon.
AI is now capable of writing entire software programs, reducing the need for traditional software engineers. These advanced AI systems can understand requirements, generate efficient code, and debug it autonomously. This shift is transforming the tech industry, allowing humans to focus on higher-level problem-solving and strategic tasks.
A recent example is the new OpenAI model, ChatGPT o3, which scores better than 99.8% of competitive coders on Codeforces with a score of 2727.
This achievement ranks it among the top 175 human competitive coders on the planet. To put this into perspective, the very top of Codeforces, such as the top 100 or 50, consists of lifelong competitive programming practitioners, many of whom have achieved IOI Gold medals and continued competing for years.
The first gene-editing treatment
The first gene-editing treatment using CRISPR has arrived and is being hailed as "life changing" by patients. This treatment cures the symptoms of sickle-cell disease, a genetic condition causing intense pain and a shorter life expectancy.
By editing DNA in bone marrow cells, scientists can turn on a different way to make hemoglobin, effectively curing the disease.
With AI and Quantum Computers like Willow, we will see many advancements in Biosciences in the next few years.
Let’s help your child prepare for this future.
Playto Labs’ courses in Robotics are designed for kids aged 8-16 to help them prepare for this future while having fun. Kids build robots in our classes using Robotics Kits and solve various real-world problems and learn valuable skills across Science, Technology, Coding, Robotics, and Design. They become innovators and creators the world needs.
You can book your free trial class for more details: