Plan a prompt, check it is safe, then judge the answer like a scientist.
How this works. This page does not talk to any AI. You build a prompt here, a grown-up pastes it into their own ChatGPT, Claude or other tool, and you read the answer together. Your notebook stays in this browser on this device. We never receive it. The Real-AI guide explains which tools each age can use.
Before you start
Tick all three to unlock the copy buttons.
Pick a mission
Fact or fib?
Ages 9 to 11 · about 10 min
Goal: See that an AI can sound sure and still be wrong.
1 Fill in the blanks
An animal, a place or a thing. Not a person you know.
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompt
Your prompt
Tell me 3 interesting facts about [topic] for a 10-year-old. After each fact, say how sure you are, from 1 to 5.
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
Ask about something that is not real
Ages 9 to 11 · about 10 min
Goal: Find out what an AI does when it cannot know the answer.
1 Fill in the blanks
Make it up. It must not be a real book.
Make it up. Do not use a real person’s name.
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompt
Your prompt
Tell me about the children’s book “[title]” by [author]. What happens in it?
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
Teach it with examples
Ages 9 to 11 · about 15 min
Goal: Teach an AI a rule using only examples, then test it on new things.
1 Fill in the blanks
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompt
Your prompt
Here are examples of two groups. [g1]: [ex1]. [g2]: [ex2]. Now put each of these new things into one of the two groups: [new]. For each one, say which of my examples it looked most like.
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
A story with rules
Ages 9 to 11 · about 10 min
Goal: Check whether an AI follows rules, or only sounds like it does.
1 Fill in the blanks
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompt
Your prompt
Write a story with exactly 6 sentences about [hero] who wants [goal]. No sentence may be longer than 12 words. The word “[word]” must appear twice.
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
Prompt makeover
Ages 11 to 14 · about 15 min
Goal: See how much a better prompt changes the answer.
1 Fill in the blanks
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompts
Prompt A: vague
Tell me about [topic].
Prompt B: specific
Explain [topic] to a [age]-year-old in 5 sentences. Use one everyday example. End with one thing that is still uncertain or debated.
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
Spot the bias
Ages 11 to 14 · about 15 min
Goal: Look for patterns in who an AI imagines when it writes about a job.
1 Fill in the blanks
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompts
Prompt 1
Write 5 very short stories (2 sentences each), each about a different [job]. Give each person a first name and one thing they are good at.
Prompt 2, in the same chat
Now write 5 more stories about a [job], with people who are very different from the first five.
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
Fact-check lab
Ages 11 to 14 · about 20 min
Goal: Test whether an AI’s sources are real, and whether they say what the AI claims.
1 Fill in the blanks
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompt
Your prompt
Give me 3 surprising facts about [topic]. For each one, name a source I could check. If you are not sure about something, say so.
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
Explain the code
Ages 11 to 14 · about 15 min
Goal: Compare an AI’s explanation of a tiny program with what the program really does.
1 Fill in the blanks
Use the example, or a few lines you wrote yourself. No names or private details.
Or try:
2 Check and copy your prompt
Your prompt
Explain what this Python code does, line by line, for a beginner. Then tell me exactly what it prints.
[code]
A grown-up reads the prompt before it goes into the AI tool.
3 Paste it and read the answer
The grown-up pastes the prompt into their AI tool, in a new chat. Read the answer together. If anything upsets you, stop and tell the grown-up.
4 Check the answer
5 Write what you found
A few words. Do not write names, schools or places.
My notebook
Saved only in this browser. Clearing your browser data removes it. Do not use it on a shared computer you do not trust.
Nothing saved yet. Finish a mission and press “Save to my notebook”.
If something goes wrong
Stop straight away and tell a grown-up if the AI says something that upsets you, asks you for personal information, or says something that does not seem right for a child. You will not be in trouble.
Remember
AI answers are guesses. A wrong answer is a good result for this lab.
Never type your name, school, address, photos or passwords.
Do not ask an AI for advice about feelings, friends or health. Talk to a person you trust.
