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Course: AI for education > Unit 3

Lesson 5: AI chatbots: Who's behind the screen?
Life skills
AI for education
Lesson Plans: AI Literacy | Common Sense Education
AI chatbots: Who's behind the screen?
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AI chatbots: Who's behind the screen? Lesson plan

Google Classroom
Why are AI chatbots designed to sound so human-like, and how can that impact our everyday lives? This lesson was created by Common Sense Education.
Common sense education

AI chatbots: Who's behind the screen? Lesson plan

GRADES 6–12
15 minutes
Recent advancements in artificial intelligence are making chatbot technology more helpful (and clever), while at the same time, it's becoming harder to tell if we're talking to a person or a robot. In this lesson, students will explore how and why AI chatbots are designed to sound so human-like, which will help them think critically about why this can be both helpful and harmful.
A person's silhouette behind a screen on the left and unobscured on the left. The one behind the screen says "Hello! How are you?" and the unobscured one says "I'm good."

Objectives

  • Define what AI chatbots are and how they work.
  • Understand why AI chatbots are intentionally designed to sound like people.
  • Reflect upon the potential impacts of AI chatbots in our lives.

Vocabulary

  • artificial intelligence (AI) – a computer program or app that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence
  • AI chatbot – a computer program or app that uses AI technology to understand and respond to what you say in real time

What you'll need

Step by step

  1. Ask: Have you ever interacted with Siri or Alexa, or another type of chatbot assistant? (Slide 4)
Invite students to share their prior knowledge, and explain that these are examples of AI chatbots. If your students are already familiar with AI chatbots, you can ask the follow-up questions on Slide 5:
  • What are other examples of AI chatbots you've come across?
  • What have you used AI chatbots for?
  • Say: Artificial intelligence is a computer program or app that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence (Slide 6). And an AI chatbot is a computer program or app that uses AI technology to understand and respond to what you say in real time (Slide 7).
  • Say: We're going to watch a video that explains why AI chatbots are designed to sound so human-like, and learn how that can impact our everyday lives (Slide 8).
Show the What Are AI Chatbots? video (Slide 9) and have students complete Part 1 of the Designing AI Chatbots handout.
  1. Refer to the Teacher Version of the handout and Slides 10–15 to guide the discussion.
  2. Say: Now that you know how AI chatbots are designed, you're going to get a chance to quiz yourself. Can you tell the difference between a human and an AI chatbot? (Slide 16)
Direct students to complete Part 2 of the Designing AI Chatbots handout independently, and then pair up with someone to review their answers (Slide 17).
  1. Say: Now that you know what AI chatbots can and can't do, it's important to consider which situations allow AI chatbots to be most helpful, and when might it be important to talk to real humans instead of talking to a machine (Slide 18).
If time permits, have students reflect and share their examples or scenarios of when AI chatbots can be most useful and when it's best to talk to a real person.

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