Today, you will act as both the trainer and the AI.

In pairs, you will each choose an object type, create rules that describe it, and test those rules with your teammate.

No coding needed. Just objects, clues, rules, and creative loopholes.

Activity Prompt

AI can learn in different ways. In supervised learning, the AI is given examples along with the correct answers, allowing it to learn patterns and make predictions about new data. In unsupervised learning, the AI receives examples without any labels and must discover patterns or group similar items on its own. In today's activity, you'll simulate supervised learning by training your teammate (the AI) with examples and distractors, allowing them to infer the patterns that define your chosen object.

Types of AI Learning

WHAT WE ARE DOING

WHY WE ARE DOING IT

AI does not truly understand objects the way people do. It looks for patterns in examples. Sometimes, missing examples or weak rules can make AI wrong.

Students train an "AI" by creating rules to identify objects and then designing examples that fool the system.

When an AI classifies something, is it understanding or is it matching patterns?

By the end, you should be able to explain what clues your AI used, when your rules worked, and when your rules failed.

Q:

AI CLASSIFICATION

؜Teach your teammate (the "AI") how to recognize a type of object using only examples and rules.

The AI might learn: “If it is tall, round, and has a handle, it is a cup.”

That sounds useful until we test it.

The AI did not understand “cup.”

It followed the clues it was given.

A watering can, a trophy, or a pencil holder could also match those clues. Examples all have: A round top, a handle, a flat bottom, and a tall shape

Activity Prompt

ACTIVITY MATERIALS

1st

3rd

2nd

4th

ACTIVITY STEPS

Selecting a category of objects

Create the Training Set

Creating the prompt

؜Test you set with your AI friend

1. Open Quick, Draw! https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/
2. Play 2-3 rounds individually.
3. Ask yourself:
4. How did the AI know your drawing was a cat?
5. Why did it sometimes guess incorrectly?
6. Did it understand the drawing, or just recognize patterns?

Key takeaway: AI learns from many examples and looks for patterns, not true meaning.

Warm up

Pair up & each student secretly picks one object to train someone to recognize. Don't tell your partner what you chose!

Examples:

Note: Avoid huge categories like “nature,” “technology,” or “all classroom objects.” Your object type should be specific enough that you can make rules for it.

1st

Choose Your Object Type

Cup

Chair

Shoe

Bag

Lamp

Clock

Choose something with visible features you can describe.

؜Create 6-10 example cards for your object type.

Each card should include:

1. A short description (optional: sketch)
2. Add Distractor Cards (objects that are not part of your category). (X)
3. Do NOT write the name of the object on the card.

Your goal is to show the AI (your teammate) a range of examples before it makes any rules.

Example: Chair:

1. card 1: Can support one person
2. card 2: Used for sitting
3. card 3 Designed for one person
4. card 4: Supports weight
5. card 5: is made to climb (X)
6. card 6: Has four legs
7. card 7: Has a backrest
8. card 8: is made to step on (X)

2nd

Make Your Training Set

Look across your training set:

What do most of your examples have in common? What changes from one example to another?

Now write 3–5 classification rules another student could follow.

Use this format:

If it has ______, then it might be a ______.

If it does not have ______, then it is probably not a ______.

3rd

Prompt design

Example:

If it is made for sitting, then it might be a chair.

If it has no surface for sitting, then it is probably not a chair.

Exchange your example cards and rules with your partner.

Now each of you becomes the AI.

Your should each study the examples and rules like an AI learning from training data.

Now one bye one you will makes guesses. Don't reveal all six cards at once.

1. Show Cards 1–3.
2. Ask: "What do you think the hidden object is?"
3. Reveal Card 4.
4. Ask again.
5. Reveal Card 5.
6. Ask again.

4th

Test the Rules