When it comes to digital wellbeing, one of the most important things is to establish an ongoing conversation with your children about their online lives. There is no one size fits all; every family can develop strategies that work best for them. But having access to a wide range of tools can help you adapt those strategies at every stage of your kids’ journey. Here are some of the key principles for those conversations:
Artificial intelligence
Generative AI is a new and evolving technology. It has many productive uses like acting as a research aid for homework or an assistant when planning an event. But like most technology that came before, generative AI can also be used for harmful purposes; for instance, it can be used to create fake websites, voice recordings, videos, images, and social media posts that mislead, embarrass or hurt people. What used to require a lot of technical skill to create, can now be done easily: most people who make fake content use widely-available AI tools.
Grades: 6-12
Duration: 60 to 90 minutes, plus extension activities
Author: MediaSmarts and TELUS
Learning goals:
Key concepts/big ideas:
Grades: 7-9
Duration: 1.5 - 2 hours
Author: MediaSmarts and TELUS
Learning goals
Key concepts/big ideas:
Students will understand that Interactions through digital media can have a real impact:
- Conversations with chatbots can have emotional effects and affect what we think and believe
Digital media experiences are shaped by the tools we use:
We have been witnessing a rising crescendo of conversation happening around AI and fake images online. It’s always been an issue, Photoshop and all, but it feels like there’s a snowball effect happening; AI is moving at speeds that we just can’t comprehend or keep up with.
Original digital art takes patience and skill. While yes, you could ask ChatGPT to recreate something similar with the right prompt, it doesn’t come close to the heart or care that was put into this original artwork and it doesn’t quite look the same.
This guide provides an overview of what AI is – and in particular Generative AI – and gives two examples of main AI tools you are likely to encounter. Then it explains some key ethical and social issues related to Generative AI.
Teachers can play a critical role in educating their students about AI, even if they aren’t experts on it. By addressing AI in ways that are designed to build students’ skills and teach them about the pitfalls of relying too much on it, teachers can help build the next generation of citizens who are empowered with the skills necessary to succeed in a world infused with AI technology.
Here are some tips on how to do that:
Explore AI together. If young kids are using an AI chatbot or voice assistant, sit with them at first to help them learn to use it and get curious about its responses. As they get more comfortable, you can step back, but try to keep a conversation going about what they’re doing and experiencing. Make sure they know to come to you if a chatbot ever says anything inappropriate or upsetting.
In this lesson, students learn about algorithms and AI, how they work, how they impact our lives on the internet, and ethical considerations. The lesson begins with a class discussion on algorithms. Students will discuss how AIs reinforce real-world biases, the difficulties in identifying how AIs make decisions, what information algorithms use to make choices, and how that information impacts the types of decisions AIs make. Finally, students will demonstrate their knowledge by researching and designing an infographic on a field that uses algorithms to make decisions. This lesson aims to build critical thinking skills by examining how AI algorithms work, investigating the biases and impacts of AI decision-making, and reflecting on how the implications to their own lives.