Can a Robot Fix Grandma's Pipes? Why Jobs Still Need Human Hands (Kids, parents, & teachers)

AI is getting louder, faster, and more impressive by the week and that can make kids wonder what’s left for humans to do. We wanted to bring a calmer, more real-world answer: the future still needs people who can build, fix, and make things when life breaks in unpredictable ways.

I’m joined by Archie D. Nettles, Jr., creator of Trades to the Rescue and the TradesTopolis universe. He writes kids as the heroes of infrastructure, the ones who solve the problems that actually keep homes and cities working. We talk about what “skilled trades” really means, why plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, carpenters, and mechanics are often the unsung heroes, and why these careers deserve the same early attention kids give to astronauts and doctors.

Then we get into the AI question everyone asks: can robots really do these jobs? Archie explains why dexterity, tight spaces, and human trust make many trade tasks hard to automate, especially when you need help at 9 p.m. on a Sunday. We also flip the script to show how AI can be a teammate: faster planning, parts lookup, real-time estimates, better customer answers, and safer work with augmented reality that helps visualize what’s behind a wall or how electrical currents flow.

If your kid loves Legos, inventing, fixing toys, cooking, or asking “how does that work,” this is a confidence boost and a roadmap. Subscribe, share with a family who’s thinking about careers, and leave a review so more kids can hear that there’s more than one way to be smart.

Resources:

• Follow Torque and Tori's Adventure
• Get the book.
• Follow on Instagram

Transcript

Welcome And AI Job Worries

Amber Ivey 0:30

Guys, welcome back to the AI for Kids podcast. Here's a question for you. Everywhere you've turned lately, somebody's saying AI is going to do everything. Write the books, take the tests, drive the cars. It is actually driving cars right now, guys. If you've seen somebody stuff driving cars, you know what I'm talking about. And some kids are even a little worried, like, wait, what's left for me to do when I become a grown-up, right? Today's guest has one of the best answers to that question that I've heard in a long time. He writes books about builders, fixers, and makers, the people who keep the actual world running. Not to say AI doesn't do that, but he thinks about these jobs and making sure kids know they're not going anywhere. So today we're talking with Archie D. Nettles, Jr., creator of Trade to the Rescue and the Trade's Top of List Universe. His work helps kids be builders, fixers, and makers as the heroes, which they are. Welcome to the show, Archie.

Archie Nettles 1:24

Welcome. Thank you, Amber. Thank you for having me.

Amber Ivey 1:28

I'm so excited to chat with you today. But before we get started and jump into your book, are you open to a lightning round?

Archie Nettles 1:34

Yes, I actually am. Yes, I am. I came ready. I came ready.

Amber Ivey 1:38

Okay, good. Archie, I'm gonna name something and you tell me if it's a tool, tech, or both. No explanation. I know this is hard for adults to follow this rule. I do it all the time. Are you ready?

Archie Nettles 1:49

I'm ready, I'm ready.

Amber Ivey 1:51

Okay, hammer.

Archie Nettles 1:53

Tool.

Amber Ivey 1:55

Okay, robot.

Archie Nettles 1:56

Tech.

Amber Ivey 1:58

Rent.

Archie Nettles 1:59

Tool.

Amber Ivey 2:01

AI chatbot.

Archie Nettles 2:02

Tech.

Amber Ivey 2:04

And kids, I want to make sure you're playing at home. You should be also answering this out loud if it's

Tool, Tech, Or Both

Amber Ivey 2:08

a tool, tech, or both, and seeing if Mr. Archie got it right. All right, drill.

Archie Nettles 2:14

Tool.

Amber Ivey 2:15

3D printer.

Archie Nettles 2:17

I'd say both.

Amber Ivey 2:18

Okay. Take measure.

Archie Nettles 2:20

Tool.

Amber Ivey 2:22

Smart helmet.

Archie Nettles 2:24

I'd say both.

Amber Ivey 2:26

Okay, walkie-talkie.

Archie Nettles 2:28

It's a tool. I'd say both. And technology.

Amber Ivey 2:33

Okay. And your imagination.

Archie Nettles 2:36

I'd say tool and both.

Amber Ivey 2:39

I love that. I love the idea of your imagination as a tool, but it's also a technology, right? Our brain is like one of the best technologies that exists in the world.

Archie Nettles 2:48

Exactly.

Amber Ivey 2:50

I love that. So I love this because kids can hear right away that technology is not just screens, right? A lot of the things that you mentioned, even in our quick lightning round, some people would even argue a hammer is a technology, especially when it first came out, right? It was a new thing that came out and folks think about that way. But tools help people do things, and AI is one of the tools people use as well, alongside these other tools and a tool that you can use in the future. So let's jump into this amazing book that I have personally, um, and really excited to chat about it today. Pretend I'm a third grader who just picked up your book at the local library or I got it on online. In about 30 seconds, what is Traits to the Rescue about and who are the heroes inside?

Archie Nettles 3:33

So, Traits to the Rescue is a story about what happens when things go wrong in the world and things go wrong in the city. And Tor and Tori are two curious kids who set out to fix those

Trade Heroes In A Story

Archie Nettles 3:44

problems in the world. So, in essence, it's basically a story about how the world works and honoring those who fix the problems.

Amber Ivey 3:52

I love that. That's a great answer. And there's this idea of this thing called a trade. What's a trade, anyway? Like, I don't know what that means. Do I trade, I trade cars or Pokemon cars or trade different cars? But what does a trade mean? If a kid had to explain it tonight, like they may do at dinner to a grown-up in her life, what's the easiest way to say what a trade is?

Archie Nettles 4:15

So the easiest way to say what a trade is or explain it is basically a trade is a hands-on skill. And it's like individuals who work as electricians are a plumber. So imagine your lights going out at home, kids. When the lights go out during a thunderstorm, there's someone who comes to fix that. Well, there's electricians and there's linemen. Lyman are the ones who are outside fixing the lines, the electrical lines, and electricians are those who come into your home and actually fix the problem to make sure the lights go out. Another example would be someone, let's say your plumbing goes out at home. Now, dad could probably go fix it, but if it's something behind the wall, you call a tradesperson, a professional, who comes in to fix that problem. So trade skills and trades are hands-on skills that individuals, tradespeople do for a living.

Amber Ivey 5:05

I love that. I love that. And right now is like a pretty wild moment to write a kids book about plumbers and electricians, right? Everyone's talking about AI, robots in the future. What made you think this was the book right now that kids need?

Archie Nettles 5:20

Well, what's interesting is I started to do a lot of research. And in my research and also working in higher education as well as just doing my own research, I noticed that there was this big gap as it relates to introducing youth to

Why Trades Need Early Awareness

Archie Nettles 5:35

hands-on skills. There's a lot of focus on middle school and high school, but there's not much career awareness with respect to elementary, so they came through five. Now there are like career days and events like that, but nothing that specifically focused on introducing youth to trades. Now there's this big shift that's coming. And I did see some books out there, but most of the books that I came across were more informational oriented, or it felt like you were preaching and teaching. My intention was to put the child in the story and go on an adventure. And so that's where the piece comes in that I wanted to take it from I'm preaching or teaching to you to I'm putting you in an adventure and you can learn what a tradesperson does as well as hands-on skills as well.

Amber Ivey 6:26

I love that. I think that with the rise of AI, I often wonder if we're leaving the traits out of the conversation. And I know we're gonna get into it a little bit later, but I want to do a quick game. I'm gonna name three trades, and you have to tell me which one you think a robot would have the hardest time pulling off. This is a big debate right now if these robots can do all these different skills. Like we see all these like videos of figure one, Boston Dynamics, and all these different robots kits. Feel free to ask your parents to go on YouTube with you so you can see

Robots Struggle With Real Plumbing

Amber Ivey 6:56

like the robots dancing or doing skills. There was actually just recently a competition between a robot and a human in a factory to see who could do the skill quicker. The human one, I don't know if that's like if the human went, the human seemed to go slow, in my opinion.

Archie Nettles 7:13

Right, right, right. But the robot did two because the dexterity.

Amber Ivey 7:16

Yeah, they both were going super slow. And I'm like, I think a human would have beat the robot even more than what it did. I think it beat about like a few hundred packages because they were turned the package over. But still, the robot did a pretty good job in 10 hours compared to how close it was to the human. And they tried to like take an intern who didn't have the skill set. So they tried to do that, but I still think a human who had been doing the work would be able to like go way further. Either way, I'll get off my soapbox. With that being said, which one of these, I'm gonna name some things, you tell me which one do you think would be hardest for the robot to pull off? The three are a plumber, an electrician, or a wind turbine technician. You're gonna pick one that you think it'll be hardest for robot to pull off, and you're gonna tell me why do you think it would be hard for robot to do that?

Archie Nettles 8:01

Wow, that's kind of tough. Um, but I would have to say a plumber. Simply because when I think about a plumber and what they have to go through and what they got to get to in terms of getting behind a wall, going underneath the sink, and going into some pretty murky spaces, uh, I think Roblox will be limited into their ability to address those that particular trade. It will have some augmentation. Now, I will admit there's some things that I learned in terms of being able to have X-ray vision oriented.

Amber Ivey 8:40

What is type of what does augmentation mean?

Archie Nettles 8:43

So basically, being able to take your role and improve it through technology. So where the where you were having to maybe manually document certain things, there will be tools that AI can do as it relates to taking notes, as we see now, when you're able to take notes, take those notes to actually get that information into a system and provide you with an estimate in real time, as well as as well as some of the technologies related to plumbing, as I've learned, like the the VR, there's virtual reality-oriented type of systems that allow you to see things through walls and see the schematics or the blueprint, if you will, of pipes. And so those are areas where I think it will be modified and AI will come to assist. But at the end of the day, if it's nine o'clock and you just had a busted pipe because you just had a weather event, like I know in Texas a few years back, we had an ice storm, and in that ice storm, a lot of people's pipes bust. Well, if it's nine o'clock, I'm not gonna call Joe Robot to come and assist because I'm gonna be frustrated because I'm having an issue in my bathroom. You're gonna call Mr. Plumber to come help you in that regard. So I would say plumbing.

Amber Ivey 10:02

I love that. Not Joe Robot. Joe Rob West is hilarious. But the funny thing is, I was meeting with a plumber last year. We had a plumbing incident, and it was a scenario where they were using technology to figure it out, but it was interesting because he had to like think of creative ways to figure out the problem. And at the end of it, I said to him, I said, your job is not going anywhere anytime soon as it relates to AI. And he was like, Yeah, I know. He said it takes a lot to do this, and it would take a good amount of training to train a robot to do that. The other piece is that people don't realize a lot of the trades jobs, these people make six figures, which is amazing, especially for some of these roles. So I'm glad you call that out.

Archie Nettles 10:40

Absolutely, absolutely.

Amber Ivey 10:42

So you call builders, fixers, and makers heroes. What does a real life trades hero actually rescue, right? Because heroes need to rescue someone. At least that's what Spider-Man, Superman, Captain America, and all these people are doing, right? Give me a specific example, a problem only a human standing in a real room with real tools could solve.

Archie Nettles 11:03

So that's interesting, right? And that was one of the challenges that I was having when I was working on my book, was trying to figure out how you can connect trades

Tradespeople As Unsung Everyday Heroes

Archie Nettles 11:13

to rescue. Because typically, rescue is thought of when you think about police officers or fire rescue, or even in the hero genre in terms of Spider-Man and Superman and Batman and all those individual things. But I had to reframe it. And when you think about it, when you have a big major weather event or a catastrophe or a major event, who do you call? You do call those individuals, police officers, and fire, but with respect to weather events or just random events that happen, you call a skilled tradesperson. And so I looked at that to say, well, they are heroes too, because they come to the rescue when you are having water damage in your home, or when you are having uh issues related to electrical issues because your lights went out, or if you don't know how to build a house, they come to the rescue to build your home, or something in that nature. And so I looked at them as being heroes too, and I would even go further to say they've for far too long, they've been the unsung heroes. Because if we go back in history in the Industrial Revolution, most individuals worked with their hands, and so for a long time, trays has not always had the best image, if you will. It was looked at as other than, or that's for those who maybe can't make it in college. I wanted to just say that there's no one wrong path, there should be multiple paths, and providing youth with the opportunity to choose that path that may interest them.

Amber Ivey 12:46

I love that, and I think that's such a good point of like the whole idea of unsung or people that we didn't think about or put in the forefront that they are the heroes, right? Because even now I'm dealing with some roof issues, and then I had a leak because we had a lot of rain and snow this winter, and I'm like calling all the roof people that I could find, and I'm like, this is causing me stress, anxiety, and it's causing me to have like damage in my homes because these things are happening. But they're literally coming in to help take away all those things, and I love that framing. Before we jump into the rest of the interview, I would love to do another lightning round. Are you down?

Archie Nettles 13:23

I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready. You got some good questions, you got some good questions.

Amber Ivey 13:26

Thank you. So, because you mentioned superhero, and we're gonna go into superhero mode for this. I'll name a problem, and you're gonna tell us which trades hero might be able to save the day with that problem. Are you ready?

Archie Nettles 13:41

Yes, I am.

Amber Ivey 13:43

I love that. I cannot. The lights are

Which Trade Saves The Day

Amber Ivey 13:47

perfect. Bring that energy. The lights go out at school.

Archie Nettles 13:51

Electrician.

Amber Ivey 13:53

Okay. A sink starts leaking.

Archie Nettles 13:56

A plumber.

Amber Ivey 13:58

A playground needs to be built.

Archie Nettles 14:00

I would say a carpenter or construction food.

Amber Ivey 14:03

Okay. A car will not start.

Archie Nettles 14:06

An auto mechanic.

Amber Ivey 14:08

Okay. A house is too hot in the summer. And it's gonna be too hot this summer. You're in Texas.

Archie Nettles 14:14

Especially in Texas, yes indeed. H back technician. H back. There we go. Because I I've I've been without heat. I mean, I'm sorry, I've been without ACR and heat, and whoo, it's not a pretty site.

Amber Ivey 14:25

A robot helper meets a charging station.

Archie Nettles 14:30

An electrician or an EV engineer? Oh, I've got a technician.

Amber Ivey 14:35

And then EV for folks listening means electric vehicle. And then HVAC is, I can't remember the acronym.

Archie Nettles 14:42

Heating ventilation, air, yeah, and air conditioner. It's a long yeah, it's long.

Amber Ivey 14:49

Thank you. Because I forgot what that one. I was like, something with AC and heat is the answer to that one. Right, right, right. Bridge and trades topolous needs repairs.

Archie Nettles 14:57

I'd say a structural engineer, a a welder, and even maybe a civil engineer.

Amber Ivey 15:03

Okay, cool. And I hopefully, kids, you're hearing jobs that are maybe of interest to you. If you hear one of these problems and think, oh, I would like to solve that, listen out for these jobs and look into them after this episode. And then last but not least, a kid wants to build the strongest cardboard tower ever.

Archie Nettles 15:21

A builder designer or that junior engineer that he or she is setting out to be for building that, those were fun when I was little.

Amber Ivey 15:29

I love that. So this is exactly why I wanted this conversation on AI for kids, right? AI may help us think through a problem, help us to be creative and create words and things due to large language models, which the kids have learned through the ABCs of AI on the podcast. But people still need to understand the real world enough to like solve these problems because we're not at the point of robots doing these skills yet. And maybe we get there, maybe we don't. So we have to make sure that that is part of the conversation. And to be honest, I want you to be honest with us. Could a robot ever really become a good plumber? Like fix a leapy leaky pipe in someone's grandmother's basement at 9 p.m. on a Sunday. Can a robot do that job in the future? What do you think?

Archie Nettles 16:13

Well, there's a lot of conversation about what a robot can and cannot do, but in my honest opinion, no. Because even why no? Well, because there's too

AI And AR Boost Trade Work

Archie Nettles 16:23

much dexterity and other aspects that are involved. And again, as we alluded to dexterity, being able to understand the problem and being nimble to move around in tight places with respect to the plumbing issue because it's behind walls. Yes, you may be having a AI robot come in, but you'll be able to talk to them, but they may not know how to understand you emotionally and be able to assess the problem. So that is what I mean in regards to that. And again, would you want a robot coming in your home at 9 p.m. to fix your plumbing or your electrical? Me personally, no. So there may be some bias there, but I don't see it in the next uh 10 years.

Amber Ivey 17:05

Okay. And I don't think grandma would want it in my example, grandma's basement. I think grandma would not want the robot there. But to your point, like around, but to your point, like the human hand, even like as we watch some of these robots trying to learn, like we are learning, like even the figure one robot, our ability to like move our hands in different places and like to squeeze it in there is a little bit different. And I I do believe, I don't know if it's I I think I'm with you. I think the next I think the next five, no, next 10, maybe the next 20, if we do it right, yes. And if they train, if they actually use different types of AI models, I don't think a lot of stuff we're using right now is gonna get us there because they would have to basically teach the AI would have to have some version of understanding things, and it can't just be they've watched video and a whole bunch of stuff. I think things that are easy to repeat, yes. I think problems like with plumbing or things like that is just harder and humans are gonna be needed way longer. But let's also flip that around because you said you have bias, the kids have learned about AI bias in previous episodes. But what's something that AI could actually be good at that could help a trades person do their job better, not replace them because I we're interested in AI and trades people working together, but team up with them. What would that be?

Archie Nettles 18:52

So I would have to say AI could be good for planning, being able to look up parts, being able to get to a decision much quicker, and being able to assist in areas where if there's questions that the client or the customer may have that usually we have to in those instances, you be like, are like, well, let me get back to you on that. Well, they can lean on the technology to get that addressed quite immediately and fix the problem and be that much more customer focused and customer-centric. So AI can definitely assist in those roles. And what's interesting is what I'm noticing is even the leaders in AI, the CEOs uh from Anthropic, the CEOs of OpenAI are just are honestly falling back on how game-changing, for lack of a better words, AI is going to be. That it will not be necessarily taking over all jobs, so they're kind of walking it back. Now, that could be because they're finna have an IPO and they're gonna be out the roof. But but I honestly would think as I'm seeing it, and I've been using it for some years now, and I see it as just a great tool. Now, there's other aspects of AI that I'm still learning about, agentic supercomputers and superintelligence. But right now, with what I'm seeing now, in my uh humble opinion, I see it it's just a phenomenal tool.

Amber Ivey 20:13

That's a good point. And for kids, when Mr. Archie said IPO, that means initial public offering. That means they're going on the stock market and their company, people can invest in it through the stock market. So that's just something to keep in mind. Archie, you kind of brought it up earlier, but I think I cut you off around the like AI vision. Can you talk about AI vision a bit? How some of these folks are thinking about using that?

Archie Nettles 20:37

Oh, I'm sorry, it's like so AR.

Amber Ivey 20:39

So Oh, AR, that's what you said. Okay, great. Can you talk about that?

Archie Nettles 20:42

So, what I'm seeing is how a lot of trades people are using and how a technology will impact the trades is them being able to use tools and leverage those tools so where you were not able to see a blueprint of what's going on behind a wall. Well, we have the capabilities to now actually be able to project things on a wall to determine what some things may look like as it relates to plumbing. Same when we're looking at the electrical work, well, there's a lot more safer avenues to determine like where currents and how currents are flowing. And so, in that regard, those are where the tools will and AI tools will come into place to help mitigate a lot of dangerous-oriented tasks that are involved with trades. And so that is kind of where things are going and where I see more or less how it can be a useful tool to assist trades, yeah, trades professionals.

Amber Ivey 21:36

That makes total sense. And for kids, AR, you probably heard of this. AR, VR, like Archie was saying earlier, AR is augmented reality. So you overlay a technology on your glasses or et cetera, so you can see other things. And that's such a cool use for like for circuits that are dangerous. And if you click the wrong thing, you can get hurt, or you touch the wrong thing, you can get hurt. So I love that. So, Archie, one thing that we did not mention that I definitely want to talk to you about in your book. So, keep into this whole idea of like working with AI and what that looks like. In your book, you talk about this whole idea of like teamwork and problem solving and how big of a deal those are. What can kids learn from trades about trying again when something does not work the first time?

Archie Nettles 22:18

Well, as that old adage goes, right?

Amber Ivey 22:20

If at first you don't first you don't succeed, try and try.

Archie Nettles 22:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you if you if you say it. Okay. If at first you don't succeed, try try again. And also, nothing beats a fail but a try.

Amber Ivey 22:32

I love that.

Archie Nettles 22:33

But nevertheless, in the trades, mistakes are not the end. And so you're able, and that's why there are apprenticeships, and you're able to learn, and that's why there are these new technologies. It's being able to learn from your mistakes and being in this world of trades topolis, which is the city of trades, you are actually in being introduced to concepts that you may not have otherwise been introduced to growing up. So when I thought about This some more. I was thinking how I got introduced to even this space goes back to seeing my dad, who was a self-taught electrician, and I wanted to honor him and his legacy as well as I have a grandfather who was a mechanic, and most individuals in my family they worked with their hands, and so I saw that as individuals who left legacy, but also that they had an amazing skill set. And so when I look at today, we are we have gotten away from that or honoring those individuals. But with respect to your question, everything that we are learning and that we have learned has been through trial and error. And so I wanted to create this platform to introduce kids to these spaces because I'm sure most of the kids who may know about these roles are only know about the roles because they have a parent or relative who works in this space. And if we can learn about Doc McStuffins and all the cool things that are out there, why can't we be introduced to infrastructure in a fun and engaging way and learn how to work with that world because that's what runs the world?

Amber Ivey 24:09

I love that. And without those roles, all these other jobs don't exist, right? Like the doctor can't be in an operating room that wasn't created by electricians, um, right, construction workers workers, and all these people who are doing that. So I think that's so important. And one other thing is that we didn't call out in the beginning is that you are actually an Army, US Army veteran. Um, and my parents both uh served in the military, most of my family served in the military as a way, as a job to learn skills and to learn different things to bring into the workforce. What did the military teach you about teamwork, leadership, and staying calm when you're trying to solve a problem?

Archie Nettles 24:48

Well, it's interesting, and thank you for acknowledging that uh service is the rent you pay for the space you occupy. And me having served my country is one of the, I would say one of my most proudest moments. And what I learned during that time was a deep respect for teams because the the military is all centered around teams. You can't do anything by yourself. And it gave me a deep respect for discipline, preparation, being adaptable and planning the work and then working the plan and also being able to solve problems and build community as well.

Amber Ivey 25:21

Yeah, I often tell folks that but for my dad being in the army and moving us around every two and a half, three years, it taught me how to like be more resilient, to fit into

Teamwork And Many Paths Forward

Amber Ivey 25:33

any group, to meet new people, to work with people from different backgrounds. It really highlighted and helped me throughout my life. And it also helped him as a person coming out of North Carolina and my mom coming out of Mississippi, helped them both to develop, like you said, the skill sets around discipline, creating plans, getting work done and like these intangible skill sets that will follow you for the rest of your life. So thank you again for your service. And I really appreciate how you brought all that together. Absolutely. And we talked about a lot of different careers today, right? And some kids are told there's only one path to success, whether it's because they watch something on TV or they see influencers and they think that there's only one way to make it, and it's often a very limited view set viewpoint, right? Why do you want kids and families to know there are many ways to build a good future for themselves?

Archie Nettles 26:23

Well, because I think that's important. And the goal is not to lower expectations, and I'm not anti-college. I am pro-choice, pro-awareness, and pro-possibilities. I want families to know that skilled workers matters, hands-on intelligence matters, and kids should not feel boxed into one version of what success may look like. They should see that they're options. And what I was thinking about is we are often learned about doctors early, lawyers early, astronauts early. Why? Because those are prestigious-oriented professions. But the same way we learn about those professions, why couldn't we add and uplift skilled tradespeople in the same light and just look at it as individuals who are working in noble professions? And it's it's on the same pier, and there's not this level of who does what better. Because I honestly, when I was doing some more research, generation, they call them the tool belt generation, I think it's generation alpha, they basically are looking at a job is just a job, not this hierarchy. People just want to be able to live, thrive, and build family and community at the end of the day.

Amber Ivey 27:30

That's a very good point. And the other thing I said it earlier, but these skill trades can make six figures. And especially if you start your own company, like there are people who are doing this and making a million dollars a year, running a plumbing company or electrical company, excuse me. So I want people to know that some of these jobs actually can be even better off than some of the things we hear about as it relates to jobs. So that's something to consider, kids, if you're interested in any of these things.

Archie Nettles 28:00

And Amber, just real quick, I just have one more point on it. I'm glad you brought up entrepreneurship because again, sometimes when people don't understand the totality of the world of skilled trades, they just see it as backbreaking, gritty, hard work, which it is. There is that aspect of it, but there's many successful people who have evolved it into entrepreneurship. So you can it doesn't have to stop at you just working in that particular trade for the next 20, 30 years of your life. You could evolve into entrepreneurship and branch out to do other things. And the best yet, you still could decide to go back to college and get a degree, but you have that skill set as a foundation in the event that you pivoted from college at a later date.

Amber Ivey 28:44

Very, very true. And I know a good amount of schools used to, at least when I was growing up, you could get a trade and you could either do that to work while you're paying off college and folks want to go to college, right? At the same time, like there's ways to even mix and match some of this stuff together. All that to say, kids, there's no one path, and you we all have gotten to where we are often not by having a clear picture, but by taking the next step and listening out to our mentors and learning as we go. And Archie, for the kid listening who likes Legos, right? Or drawing inventions, helping cook, fixing toys, taking things apart, or asking how does that work? What would you tell them?

Archie Nettles 29:23

So if you like Legos, drawing inventions, as you said, helping cooking or fixing toys, that means that your brain is already practicing problem-solving skills, whether you realize it or not. So keep going, keep being curious, keep asking questions because you may be a future builder, a designer, a technician, an engineer. I would say it's in it's endless. You may be an inventor or an entrepreneur. Your curiosity is not weird, it's a tool. So I would encourage you to keep using it.

Amber Ivey 29:51

I love that. Anything else you want to share before I ask my final question? I just asked us to make sure we didn't miss anything that you wanted to highlight.

Archie Nettles 29:58

So, in summary, I would say that's what Trace Topolist is really about. It's helping kids see that the way they think, build, ask, or fix and create can become part of their future in their world.

Amber Ivey 30:11

I love that. Last one, if a kid finishes this episode and only remembers one thing, because we know we said a lot of words and they need one thing to remember. What do you hope it is?

Archie Nettles 30:25

Keep you say one word.

Amber Ivey 30:28

No, no, no. I'm sorry, one thing. It could be a sentence.

Archie Nettles 30:32

Keep dreaming, keep building, and keep fixing because the world is not inherited, it's built.

Amber Ivey 30:41

And Archie, that's just such a great way to end our conversation today. Archie, thank you so much for joining us. I love this conversation because it reminds kids that the future is not just about screens, robots, and AI, even though this podcast is about those things, right? The future also needs people who can think, build, fix, test, create, and solve real world problems. For kids listening, AI may be one tool in your future, not may, it will be, but your hands, your brain, your creativity, and your curiosity still matter. Maybe you will code an app, maybe you'll repair a machine, maybe you will design a building, right? Maybe you will use AI and a toolbox because both can work together. There is more than one way to be smart, and there's more than one way to help your community. Families can learn more about Archie's work at torqueandtory.com, which will be in the show notes, and follow the Trace Topo list journey. Also get the book. I will have the Amazon link in the show notes, and you can follow them on Instagram at Trace Topolist. Archie, thanks so much for being on the show. Kids, stay curious, and we will see you in a few weeks. Thanks, Archie.

Archie Nettles 31:47

Thank you. Thank you, Yamber.

Amber Ivey 31:49

Bye-bye. Bye. Thank you for joining us as we explore the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. Don't keep this adventure to yourself. Download it, share it with your friends, and let everyone else in on the fun. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast or on YouTube. See you next time on AI for kids.