Next generation keeping an AI on robot tech.

IF YOU want to know what's really on the minds of the next generation, check out the science projects at the RDS this week.

- BY DANNY DE VAAL

And you may get a surprise that it's not all fun and games on their minds.

Primary school kids taking part are getting deep into subjects like AI, 'brainrot', and fake news.

Ireland's 10-year-olds are ditching simple observation to become our newest, sharpest fact-checkers.

New research from the RDS, called the RDS Curiosity Index, proves it.

They've audited over 2,000 science questions from the ESB Science Blast event running until Thursday and found a big change in how kids think.

The 'Class of 2040' is using science to interrogate a world that's increasingly dominated by algorithms and AI and they are seriously sceptical.

Just two years ago, kids were "The Observers". Their big questions were all about the magic of nature:

How do fish breathe? Why do our fingers wrinkle in the bath?