Artificial intelligence is becoming part of how we learn, create, and solve problems. But meaningful AI literacy is not built through access to technology alone. It also requires curiosity, critical thinking, and responsible guidance. Google’s approach to AI in education reflects a similar principle: technology should support understanding and discovery while keeping the human element of teaching at the center of the learning process.
This summer, Coob Ads brought that idea into practice through its first CSR initiative, joining Simbioza’s DigiAkademija as volunteer mentors and helping children explore AI through hands-on robotics and digital creativity.
Why AI Literacy Should Start Early
As AI becomes increasingly present in everyday digital experiences, knowing how to use technology thoughtfully is becoming just as important as having access to it. In Slovenia, there is still room to strengthen this foundation: in 2025, 46.5% of individuals had at least basic digital skills, compared with 60.4% across the EU. The European Commission’s 2026 Digital Decade report notes that this gap remains persistent.
This is also why hands-on learning matters. Google’s AI Educator Series is designed around core AI concepts, critical thinking, and responsible use through practical experience with tools such as Gemini. For younger learners, this approach can be translated into age-appropriate activities: instead of starting with technical definitions, they can learn by building, testing, prompting, observing results, and asking why they change.
Early exposure to AI, however, should not mean leaving young users to navigate these tools on their own. Google for Education stresses that educators should remain in the lead when determining how AI adds value to learning. That idea was also central to the DigiAkademija collaboration: rather than simply giving children access to AI tools, Coob Ads mentors created a structured environment where they could experiment, ask questions, and discover how technology can support their own ideas.
For children encountering generative AI for the first time, this combination of practical discovery and human guidance helps keep the focus on learning: what the tool can do, how results are shaped, and when to question them.
Learning Through AI: From Robotics to Digital Creativity
The collaboration translated this approach into two practical learning formats tailored to different age groups as part of DigiAkademija’s free educational program.
During the first week alone, 130 children took part in the activities, with 140 young participants expected to join DigiAkademija throughout the summer.
For the Coob Ads team, taking part meant stepping outside their everyday roles and becoming volunteer mentors. Their task was not simply to demonstrate new technology, but to help children understand it through experimentation and creation. Each activity gave children a practical way to explore what AI can do, with experienced mentors nearby to explain, guide, and encourage questions.
Building, Programming, Experimenting
For children aged 9–12, the experience took the form of AI LEGO Robotics. Participants built and programmed their own LEGO robots, moving from individual components to working creations they could see and interact with.
Along the way, they practiced STEM skills and explored the connection between programming, AI, and physical objects.
Instead of discussing technology only in theory, children could immediately see how their instructions translated into actions. This hands-on format made abstract concepts more tangible and encouraged them to test ideas, adjust their approach, and learn through experimentation.
Turning Ideas into Visuals
The younger group, aged 6–8, approached AI from a different angle: creativity. With support from Coob Ads volunteers, they used Gemini Nano Banana to create their own unique coloring books and comic books. Google introduced Nano Banana as an image-editing model from Google DeepMind integrated into the Gemini app, expanding how users can create and transform images.
For DigiAkademija participants, this became an accessible way to see an idea expressed in words could become a visual result. Rather than interacting with AI as passive users, children could experiment with their own concepts and see how different prompts shaped the outcome.
Both activities followed the same learning principle: moving from simply consuming technology to actively creating with it. Throughout the process, Coob Ads mentors remained closely involved, helping participants try different approaches safely, and discover how AI can support curiosity, imagination, and problem-solving.
Taking AI Expertise Beyond Advertising
The impact of the initiative, however, goes beyond the activities themselves. As the Official Google Ads Sales Representative in Slovenia, Coob Ads works with Google Ads technologies and AI-powered advertising solutions every day. DigiAkademija offered an opportunity to take some of that expertise beyond advertising and turn it into an accessible learning experience for the wider community.
Google follows a similar approach in its AI education initiatives, combining access to AI tools with programs designed to build the skills needed to use them effectively. These programs place particular emphasis on AI literacy, critical thinking, and giving educators the knowledge and confidence to guide others.
For the Coob Ads volunteers, DigiAkademija provided a chance to contribute on a different level. The curiosity and willingness to explore that professionals rely on when working with emerging technologies became skills the mentors could encourage in younger learners. The goal was not to turn children into AI experts, but to give them a positive and supervised first experience of using technology to build, create, and solve problems.
This commitment to AI learning also extends beyond DigiAkademija. In Slovenia, Coob Ads collaborates with the Business Center of the School of Economics and Business on AI Creator Academy, a free educational program that introduces participants to participants to real-world applications of Google AI tools, including Gemini Notebook, Flow, Veo 3, and Nano Banana Pro. From young learners discovering AI for the first time to professionals exploring how it can support their work, the same idea connects both experiences: skills develop when technology is paired with guidance, exploration, and thoughtful use.
Throughout the summer program, young participants had the opportunity to discover how digital tools can help turn their ideas into something tangible and, most importantly, how they themselves can become active creators in the digital world rather than passive users of it.
Learn more about DigiAkademija and Simbioza’s work to strengthen digital skills among young people.
