AI

One of the modules I teach in Vocational Training includes learning the Python programming language. As a joke, I once told my students that if they asked in advance, they could take an exam using AI. To my surprise, this week they actually took me up on it.

Throughout the year, I’ve often explained how to use AI as a learning assistant—to study, to prepare exercises, and to ask questions. Both my students and I know perfectly well that, at their current level, any of their previous exercises or exams could be solved flawlessly by an AI. So we all understood that this exam needed to be something different.

Over the past few days, I’ve picked up my old project: a Python library for a low-cost RFID reader I’ve been experimenting with. You can grab one for under €50 on AliExpress along with a hundred tags for just a few more euros. It’s a Chinese-made UHF reader, which means it can scan multiple tags at the same time.

Unfortunately, there’s no Linux driver available—only a C# driver for Windows plus a sample app from the manufacturer. So, I had to create my own cross-platform version in Python.