In this lesson, students will learn about algorithms and how they function, particularly recommendation algorithms utilized by popular apps like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Netflix. Students explore the role of optimization goals such as watch time, engagement, and daily active use in shaping the content algorithms prioritize. Through activities like “red teaming,” students will critically analyze the potential downsides and biases of these optimization goals. Students will also discover how to train algorithms by providing both explicit inputs through actions like liking and sharing, and understand the implications of implicit inputs gathered from their online activity. Finally, students design their own algorithm for an app of their choice, identifying which goals it should be optimized for and how they should be weighted as well as what inputs it should use.
Artificial intelligence
In this lesson, students in grades 4 through 6 explore the capabilities and limitations of AI. They learn to verify AI-generated answers using search engines and reliable sources while collaborating to build a model that explains how AI tools actually function. They evaluate the ethics of various AI uses and establish a set of responsible rules for its application in their studies. Finally, students design a visual "Learning Loop" that illustrates the distinct roles of humans and AI, reinforcing the concept that the student must remain the "boss" of the machine.
In this lesson, students learn that AI tools are computer programs that follow patterns instead of thinking like humans. They explore how this can lead AIs to make mistakes and importance of having humans supervise and correct them. Students practice creating “robot rules” and then design a "Trashbot" that will recognize and pick up trash in the classroom.
As a parent, and an entrepreneur, there isn’t a day that goes by that AI somehow doesn’t show up in my spaces. I’ve shared before how it’s a conversation that I’m having to have with my own kids, and that is showing up in creative spaces too.
We are fully in the holiday season and that means people are celebrating, gathering and hopefully making plans for rest.
As we continue to feel merry and bright, I’ve realized that technology plays interesting and at times significant roles in our holiday planning and enjoyment.
Generative AI is what we call AI systems that can generate things like images, video, voice and text. They do this by first encoding many examples of the kind of content they’re going to make, then decoding to make something new.
The AI industry encompasses both major technology companies that integrate algorithms into existing products and firms focused primarily on developing and deploying specialized AI services, primarily Large Language Models (LLMs) and generative tools.
Recommendation is where the role of algorithms is most visible to the public.