AI Thinking is happening more and more especially in Politics and Cognative Science.
But… “computers are dumb” and just do the same thing over and over on static data (iterative loops).
and… teachers, who even have full Logo available, sometimes have difficulty with AI modeling
and…new “basic” programmers comfortable with List Data Structures and Simple Recursion are unusual.
So, since we have a chance with Microsoft Small Basic to design an early Computer Science tool.
…could a very simple list object be available (with First and ButFirst at least)
…can program modules be available (as in the MIT Scratch Program)
…can programs ever execute subprograms that the program itself has created (symbol manipulation) as is available in Lisp and Logo
We need to keep thinking about (1) our thinking (assumptions) and (2) the tools we use to think with. Small basic design is an incredible opportunity to start up the best possible features to help our thinking in the future.