From Blocks, ChatBots to Robots: Why Teaching Coding Still Matters in a Generative AI World

Generative AI may code faster than Rosie the robot serves breakfast, but a student’s first experience with Block coding still sparks curiosity and fosters real innovation. In this rapid-fire session we Look Back at robotics from factory arms to humanoid helpers, Explore Today with block-coding and live ChatBots via ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and an AI enabled robot tutor, and Launch Tomorrow by moving from coding blocks into JavaScript with Blockly Pro—skills that fuel AI-era careers. Leave with teaching ideas where blocks, chatbots, and robots each play a starring role—plus smile-inducing talking points for parents and administrators who ask, “Why code at all when AI can do it for us?”