AI: An Introduction

• Technology
• Higher Education (non-degree)

Generative AI: An Introduction

'High Tech needs High Touch'

Richard Human

I have been a primary and secondary 

teacher and school leader for 25 years

in Britain and Internationally.

I am passionate about developing 

self-efficacy in teachers, students, and 

families.

Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to succeed in achieving an outcome or reaching a goal.

This session

1. We will briefly explore the (short) history of AI
   
2. I will share why it is important that we (adults & children) begin to engage with AI
3. We will look at bias and some of the risks
4. We will complete activities using Generative AI
5. We will learn about 'Prompt' writing and 'Tokens'
6. We will explore some AI tools that might be of use in the classroom 

Have you used AI?

Yes

No

Have you used Alexa/Siri?

Yes

No

Have you ever done your shopping online?

Yes

No

Have you used Instagram/FaceBook/Twitter?

Yes

No

Have you used Spotify/Netflix/Disney?

Yes

No

Voice Assistants

Voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant allow us to perform a range of tasks from setting reminders and alarms to controlling smart home devices. These devices use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to understand what we are saying and provide the appropriate response.

Social Media

Have you noticed how Facebook always seems to know what you are interested in? That is because the social media giant uses AI to analyse your activity and provide you with personalised content. This includes targeted ads, suggested friends, and even news articles. Twitter also uses AI to analyse and filter tweets, which helps in their pursuit of users only seeing the most relevant and useful content.

Online Shopping

Have you ever noticed that when you shop online you are often presented with personalised recommendations? This is because retailers use AI to analyse your shopping behaviour and suggest products that are likely to interest you. This not only makes shopping more convenient but also helps retailers to increase their sales.

Entertainment

Netflix, Disney use AI to recommend other films and programs to watch based on your previous choices and responses (thumbs up and thumbs down)

AI is a tool

There are some things AI cannot—at least not in the foreseeable future—replace. Intuition, creativity, sensitivity, empathy, tone; traits that are inherently human. 

AI is a bit like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

GPT-4 Turbo 

GPT 4 Turbo

• ChatGPT will appear "smarter" and more "knowledgable"

• ChatGPT will produce completions good enough to pass a cursory overview leading people to think they are doing good work
  

Do you think it is important that we start using AI with our pupils? Why?

AI is a super power

If we hold students back from using it, we are holding back their development. We need to expose students to the tools they'll use on the job. As Generative AI becomes integrated into workplaces, knowing how to prompt ChatGPT and other Language Models will be just as important as using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Why we should engage with AI in primary schools?

Is artificial intelligence a force for evil?

Kriti Sharma is a chief product officer for legal technology at Thomson Reuters and the founder of AI for Good Sunday 30th July 2023

“AI for Good is about building AI in the right way and using it for social good. We’re embedding our philosophy into organisations the world over, with more backing from business leaders, boardrooms, regulators and policymakers than ever before. We’ve learned there are good business reasons for building this technology safely – if you want people to adopt it and use it, they need to be able to trust it.

We’ve done a lot of work around helping domestic abuse victims in South Africa, with a chatbot called rAInbow. It was designed to help people understand their legal rights. It can be quite overwhelming to take that first step to getting help 

and trusted information if you don’t know where to begin. I think it’s important to acknowledge the risks this technology brings, but there are also tremendous positive opportunities. I spend a lot of my time building AI that helps improve the justice system and helps people understand their legal rights. With this technology, we can produce legal drafts in minutes that used to take days. Courts can function better and faster, so people can get their hearing dates and we can make the system more efficient.

What excites me is that the new generation of technologists don’t have to have my background. I went to geek school after geek school, but the newest programming language is human language. This means we can bring in people from many different backgrounds to build it. If we do this right, we will be opening up the profile of people who work in technology and AI.”

Future Jobs

Anthropic

Worth remembering...

Bias: There are two types of bias in AI. One is algorithmic AI bias or “data bias,” where algorithms are trained using biased data. The other kind of bias in AI is societal AI bias. That's where our assumptions and norms as a society cause us to have blind spots or certain expectations in our thinking.

Any such trend or deviation from the truth in data collection, analysis, interpretation and publication is called bias. Bias in research can occur either intentionally or unintentionally. Bias causes false conclusions and is potentially misleading. 

The common biases found in data collection can be categorized into:

Selection Bias – the selection of data isn’t representative of the population as a whole, and therefore presents a bias.

Systematic Bias – consistent error that repeats itself throughout the model.

Response Bias – participants of data respond to questions in a way that is deemed false, or inaccurate. 

Potential Harms Caused by AI Systems

• Bias and Discrimination
• Denial of Individual Autonomy, Recourse, and Rights
• Non-transparent, Unexplainable, or Unjustifiable Outcomes
• Invasions of Privacy

• Isolation and Disintegration of Social Connection
  
• Unreliable, Unsafe, or Poor-Quality Outcomes

Further reading - Understanding artificial intelligence ethics and safety (The Alan Turning Institute)

Activity 1

Paris visit

• Using Google spend the next 10 minutes finding ten places to visit in Paris
  
• Keep a record of the search terms you use when using Google
• Present your information in any style you wish

Please share some of the Google search terms/sentences you used here.

Share some of the reasons you chose the places that appear on your Paris list

Activity 2

Travel Guide AI

Paris visit

• We are going to use ChatGPT as a travel guide 
  
• Together we will write a prompt to help ChatGPT understand what we want
• But before we do, lets investigate 'prompts' a little further...

Effectively Creating Prompts

1. Be specific: The more criteria you give, the more focused the output will be.

2. Work in steps: Break tasks into small chunks. This returns better results, just as it would with a human.

3. Iterate and improve: Re-work the inputs and have ChatGPT improve on its own output.

I will share with you an example of the power of a specific prompt

Effectively Creating Prompts

1. How do we want ChatGPT to engage with us?
   

• "You are going to act as..."
• "Ignore all previous instructions before this one"
• "Tone friendly and casual"
• "Explain this to an eleven year old" 

Let's use a prepared prompt...

1. PREPing AI
2. PREPing questions
3. PREPing a historical figure
4. PREPing a YouTube video
5. PREPing a teaching coach
6. PREPing example answers

I will share with you some examples you can use.

More unique prompts for answers

• "What would I not think of on this topic?"
  
• "What are some of the uncommon or less well know answers to this same question?"
• "Give me something around original around this topic that some people believe to be untrue"

Start drafting your prompt for Paris and share it here...

Effectively Creating Prompts

• "You are an expert on Paris. You have helped people of all ages visit Paris for long weekends for the last 20 years. Your task is now to give the best advice when it comes to visiting Paris on a budget. You must always ask questions before you answer so you can better understand what the questioner is seeking. Is that understood? 
  

Paris visit

• Using ChatGPT and your newly crafted prompt spend the next 2 minutes finding ten places to visit in Paris
• Take a few moments to compare this with your Google research
• Present your information in any style you wish

Worth knowing when writing prompts...

'Tokens'

• Tokens can be thought of as pieces of words.
  
• 100 tokens ~= 75 words.
  
• For example - "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" contains 11 tokens.
  
• Depending on the model used, requests can use up to 4097 tokens shared between prompt and completion.
• The limit is currently a technical limitation
• Paid for AI offers more tokens 
  

Activity 3

Chef AI

Somali Surbiyaan

Using ChatGPT or Claude find the recipe for this dish

Somali Surbiyaan

There has been a last minute change of plan!

The recipe needs to feed 12 people! They also do not like spicy food so adjust the heat accordingly.

Find out how long it takes to make as the guests are arriving in 80 minutes!

Activity 4

Let's test AI!

Claude.ai

You are an expert dietician. Help me plan a weeks worth of evening meals for two adults and four children. One of the children is a vegetarian. Some of the meals can be vegetarian for the whole family. The ingredients need to be easily found and not expensive. Our budget for the week is £70. We do not eat dessert and we drink water.

Monday: Veggie chili with beans, brown rice, and a green salad. Make a big batch of mild chili using beans, tomatoes, onions, peppers and spices. Serve over brown rice with shredded cheese and a simple salad. 

Tuesday: Baked potato bar. Bake russet potatoes and set up a topping bar with broccoli, black beans, salsa, cheese, etc. Easy for kids to customize. 

Wednesday: Veggie fried rice. Make a big batch of veggie fried rice with carrots, peas, onions, eggs and tofu. Quick and inexpensive.

Thursday: Pasta with meatballs. Make a simple tomato sauce and serve with whole wheat pasta. Make turkey or beef meatballs for those who eat meat and lentil walnut balls for the vegetarian. Add a green veggie side.

Friday: Grilled chicken fajitas. Marinate and grill chicken. Offer tortillas, sauteed peppers and onions, guacamole, shredded lettuce and cheese for DIY fajitas. The vegetarian can make bean and veggie fajitas. 

Saturday: Veggie soup and bread. Make a hearty vegetarian soup with beans, veggies, tomato base. Serve with crusty bread and salad. 

Sunday: Tacos. Setup a taco bar with seasoned ground turkey or beef, beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese and other favorite taco toppings. Easy meal the whole family will enjoy.

Let me know if you need any modifications or have questions! This menu focuses on easy recipes using common ingredients to stay within your budget. I'm happy to provide specific recipes or shopping lists as well.

"Give me a shopping list for the meals"

Here is a suggested shopping list for the weekly dinner menu within your £70 budget:

Produce:

- Onions (3 lbs) 

- Bell peppers (3 colors)

- Potatoes (5 lbs)

- Lettuce (2 heads)

- Tomatoes (4 lbs)

- Carrots (2 lbs)

- Celery (1 bunch) 

- Garlic (1 head)

- Ginger (1 knob)

- Fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil - small bunches)

- Lemons (4)

- Avocados (4)

- Green peas (1 lb bag frozen)

- Broccoli (1 crown)

Pantry: 

- Brown rice (2 lbs)

- Pasta (1 box whole wheat) 

- Canned beans (2 cans black, 2 cans pinto)

- Canned diced tomatoes (28 oz)

- Tomato sauce (28 oz) 

- Vegetable or chicken broth (32 oz)

- Oil (vegetable, olive)

- Spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano, etc)

Protein:

- Ground turkey (2 lbs) 

- Eggs (1 dozen)

- Firm tofu (1 package)

Dairy:

- Grated cheddar cheese (8 oz) 

- Plain Greek yogurt (16 oz)

Bakery:

- Tortillas (1 pack corn, 1 pack flour)

- Bread (1 loaf whole wheat)

Let me know if you need me to modify the shopping list in any way! I tried to maximize budget-friendly ingredients that can be used across multiple meals.

Pantry: 

- Brown rice (2 lbs)

- Pasta (1 box whole wheat) 

- Canned beans (2 cans black, 2 cans pinto)

- Canned diced tomatoes (28 oz)

- Tomato sauce (28 oz) 

- Vegetable or chicken broth (32 oz)

- Oil (vegetable, olive)

- Spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano, etc)

Protein:

- Ground turkey (2 lbs) 

- Eggs (1 dozen)

- Firm tofu (1 package)

Dairy:

- Grated cheddar cheese (8 oz) 

- Plain Greek yogurt (16 oz)

Bakery:

- Tortillas (1 pack corn, 1 pack flour)

- Bread (1 loaf whole wheat)

Let me know if you need me to modify the shopping list in any way! I tried to maximize budget-friendly ingredients that can be used across multiple meals.

Activity 5

Let's test AI!

Lesson Plan

• Choose a topic/subject you know well
  
• Think of a diverse class you have worked with and also know well (with neurodiverse and bilingual pupils)
• Ask ChapGPT or Claude to design a lesson for this class
• Be as specific as possible with yours and the pupils needs (timings, type of activities, assessment opportunities etc.)
• What resources will you need?
• Adjust your prompts until you have what you need
• Remember to ask - "What would I not think of on this topic?"

What are your initial thoughts about the lesson plan produced?

Not great

Better than I expected

Very good

Better than one I would have made

Okay

I'm undecided how I feel!

Generally okay, with a few flaws

Amazing!

Poor

It is something I could use with a little re-working

Some AI tools

For teachers and pupils

Copilot - https://educationcopilot.com

Three page lesson plan

Hand out and context builder

Quizgecko - https://quizgecko.com

TeachMateAI - https://teachmateai.com

D-ID - www.d-id.com

Pictory - https://pictory.ai

Claude - https://claude.ai

Socrative https://www.socrative.com

Quick, Draw! - https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com

Bedtime Story - https://www.bedtimestory.ai

A library...

Create your own...

LessonUp - www.lessonup.com

Generating lessons and quizzes using AI in LessonUp

I found him in the garage on a Sunday afternoon. It was the day after we moved into Falconer Road. The winter was ending. Mum had said we'd be moving just in time for the spring. Nobody else was there. Just me. The others were inside the house with Dr. Death, worrying about the baby.

He was lying there in the darkness behind the tea chests, in the dust and dirt. It was as if he'd been there forever. He was filthy and pale and dried out and I thought he was dead. I couldn't have been more wrong. I'd soon begin to see the truth about him, that there'd never been another creature like him in the world.

We called it the garage because that's what the real estate agent, Mr. Stone, called it. It was more like a demolition site or a rubbish dump or like one of those ancient warehouses they keep pulling down at the wharf. Stone led us down the garden, tugged the door open, and shined his little flashlight into  

the gloom.We shoved our heads in at the doorway with him. "You have to see it with your mind's eye," he said. "See it cleaned, with new doors and the roof repaired. See it as a wonderful two-car garage." He looked at me with a stupid grin on his face. "Or something for you, lad-a hideaway for you and your pals. What about that, eh?"

I looked away. I didn't want anything to do with him. All the way round the house it had been the same. Just see it in your mind's eye. Just imagine what could be done. All the way round I kept thinking of the old man, Ernie Myers, that had lived here on his own for years. He'd been dead nearly a week before they found him under the table in the kitchen. That's what I saw when Stone told us about seeing with the mind's eye. He even said it when we got to the dining room and there was an old cracked toilet sitting there in the comer behind a plywood screen.

I used to think this about AI...

Now I think...

I feel better equipped to start using AI in my teaching and learning.

Yes

No

Undecided

This session

1. We briefly explored the (short) history of AI
2. We learned why it is important that we (adults & children) begin to engage with AI
3. We looked at bias and some of the risks
4. We completed activities using Generative AI
5. We learned about 'Prompt' writing and 'Tokens'
6. We explored some AI tools that might be of use in the classroom 

I am going to experiment with...

I would like to learn more about...