Lesson 1: What is AI?

Before starting this unit, check the children can recall:

• How search engines work and the process they use to find and rank information.

• Different reasons why codes are used and how to decode simple messages.

• Key historical figures in computer science and their contributions.

• Techniques for making presentations engaging and interesting for an audience.

• How to use audio editing software to create simple audio adverts with basic edits.

Optional: provide each child with a copy of the Knowledge catcher (see link: Assessment: Computing Y6: Exploring AI) and ask them to complete it to the best of their ability. Explain that at the end of the unit, they will revisit it, adding more information in a different colour.

Ask the children:

Discuss the children's thoughts and ideas and ask the children to share their experiences with AI, such as voice assistants like Siri or Alexa. Explain that AI stands for Artificial Intelligence and is a computer that can think and learn in ways similar to humans.

Arrange the children in groups of four and hand out the Resource: Sorting images (pre-cut, one set per group). Ask the children to sort the images into groups without telling them specific criteria, such as food, animals, etc. Allow time for the children to complete the activity.

Explain to the children that AI learns similarly to human brains. Inform them that humans may need many examples and lots of practice to be able to categorise information accurately and that AI also needs plenty of data to learn patterns. Just as human brains use past experiences to make decisions, AI uses the data it has been trained on to analyse a question or situation and make predictions.

Ask each group to explain the criteria they used for sorting. Discuss how they decided on their sorting criteria and compare this to how AI algorithms sort data based on learnt patterns and features.