Life-Ready Society · Teacher and parent pack · Intellectual dimension

AI and Digital Skills

Use AI to learn, check its answers, protect your privacy and your reputation.

8 lessons, about 1.5 hours of reading. Free lessons, videos and full sources: https://lifereadysociety.com/ai-digital/

How to use this pack. Ask your teen or class to read one lesson online (about ten minutes), talk through the key points together, choose one practice task to try this week, then use the quiz to check what stuck. The answer key is on the last page. Free to print for home and classroom use.

The lessons at a glance

1. What generative AI is and how chatbots actually work

AI chatbots can write, explain and summarise in seconds, which makes them feel like they know things. Understanding what is really happening inside them helps you use them cleverly and trust them only as much as they deserve.

Key points

Generative AI creates new content; traditional machine learning mostly predicts or classifies.
LLMs work with tokens and predict the next one, again and again.
They learn patterns from huge amounts of text, which can include errors and biases.
Fluent does not mean correct: always judge the output.

2. Using AI to learn, not to think for you

AI can be a patient tutor that explains things at 2am, or a shortcut that quietly stops you learning. The difference is in how you use it, and research shows the stakes are real.

Key points

AI can boost practice scores while weakening independent skill if it just gives answers.
Use it to quiz, explain and give feedback, not to produce your work.
Ask for hints and questions, then do the thinking yourself.
Always check what your school or course allows.

3. Hallucinations: checking what AI tells you

AI tools sometimes invent facts, quotes, references and even court cases, and present them with total confidence. Learning to spot and check these 'hallucinations' protects your grades, your reputation and sometimes your safety.

Key points

Hallucinations are confident, plausible-sounding errors.
References, quotes, statistics and links are the most common invented details.
Always trace claims back to an original, reliable source.
For health, legal, money and safety matters, ask a qualified human.

4. Academic integrity and AI: playing by the rules

Schools, exam boards and universities are writing new rules for AI, and they are not all the same. Knowing how to check the rules, and how to show honestly how you used AI, protects work you have genuinely earned.

Key points

Rules differ by school, course and even task: always check.
Acknowledge AI by tool name and date, keep prompts and outputs, and explain how you used them.
Unacknowledged AI use is treated as plagiarism and can lead to serious sanctions.
Drafts and version history are your best evidence of honest work.

5. Privacy and AI: what not to share

Chatting with an AI can feel private, like talking to a diary. It usually is not. Knowing where your words go, and what the age rules say, helps you use these tools without giving away more than you mean to.

Key points

AI chats can be stored, reviewed by people and used for training.
Check age rules: some tools require 13 with parental permission, others 18.
Never share passwords, ID numbers, financial details or other people's information.
In the UAE, filming or sharing images of people without consent can be illegal.

6. Your digital footprint and online reputation

Everything you post, like and share adds up to a picture of you that universities, employers and others can find. You cannot erase it all, but you can shape it, starting today.

Key points

Your footprint includes what you post and what others post about you.
Some admissions officers and many employers look at social media.
Search yourself, tighten privacy settings and close old accounts.
Build a positive footprint on purpose.

7. Digital organisation: files, backups, passwords and 2-step verification

Losing a coursework file the night before a deadline, or having your email hacked, can wreck a week. A few simple systems protect your work and your accounts at school, at university and beyond.

Key points

Clear folders and consistent file names save time and panic.
Back up important files to an external drive or the cloud.
Three random words make strong, memorable passwords; keep your email password unique.
Turn on 2-step verification for important accounts and keep devices updated.

8. The UAE and AI, and careers in a changing world

The UAE has made AI a national priority, from government strategy to classrooms. Understanding where things are heading helps you choose subjects, skills and opportunities wisely, whatever career you want.

Key points

The UAE launched its AI strategy in October 2017 and aims to lead in AI by 2031.
It appointed the world's first Minister of State for AI in 2017.
AI is now part of the curriculum in UAE public schools from KG to Grade 12.
AI skills are in demand, but so are creativity, resilience and curiosity.

Talk about it, then try it

The real-life practice tasks from each lesson. Pick one or two a week and agree when you will check in.

What generative AI is and how chatbots actually work
- Ask a chatbot the same question three times in fresh chats and note how the answers differ. Write one sentence explaining why, using the idea of next-token prediction.
- Explain to a family member, in under two minutes and without notes, what a token is and why a chatbot can sound confident but be wrong.
Using AI to learn, not to think for you
- Pick one topic you are revising this week. Use the 'wait for my answers' prompt to get five questions, answer them on paper first, then check.
- Next time you are stuck on homework, follow the five-step 'try first' routine and note whether you could redo the problem without help afterwards.
Hallucinations: checking what AI tells you
- Ask an AI tool for three academic references on a topic you are studying. Try to find each one in Google Scholar or your school library. Record how many were real and accurate.
- Take one AI answer you used this week and check every number and name in it against an original source.
Academic integrity and AI: playing by the rules
- Find your school's (or future university's) AI or academic integrity policy online and write down, in three bullet points, what it allows and forbids.
- For your next piece of homework, keep a simple AI log: tool, date, prompt, what you used and how you changed it, even if you do not end up using AI.
Privacy and AI: what not to share
- Open the AI tool you use most and find its data or privacy settings. Turn off training if you prefer, and delete any chats containing personal details.
- Check the minimum age in the terms of two apps you use, and talk to a parent if you need their permission.
Your digital footprint and online reputation
- Do the 20-minute audit: search your name, review privacy settings on your two most-used apps and delete one old account.
- Create or update one positive thing about you online, such as a school project page or a volunteering post, with a parent's knowledge.
Digital organisation: files, backups, passwords and 2-step verification
- Rename and file every document from one subject using the YYYYMMDD and version number system.
- Turn on 2-step verification for your email and one social media account, and change your email password to three random words if it is weak or reused.
- Set up automatic backup or sync for your school folders and test that you can open one backed-up file.
The UAE and AI, and careers in a changing world
- Read one page of ai.gov.ae or u.ae about the UAE's AI plans and write three ways it could affect a career you are interested in.
- Choose one free online introduction to AI or programming and complete the first lesson this week.

Quiz

Name: ______________________ Date: ____________ Circle one answer for each question.

1. What does a large language model fundamentally do when it writes an answer?

Sends your question to a human expert in real time
Predicts likely next tokens, one after another
Looks up each answer in a verified fact database
Copies the top search result word for word

2. Roughly how many English words are in 400 tokens?

About 4,000
About 400 exactly
About 300
About 40

3. In the Bastani et al. study, what happened to students who had used a plain chatbot once access was removed?

They performed 17 per cent worse than students who never had access
They scored exactly the same as students who never had access
They performed 127 per cent better than students who never had access
They performed 17 per cent better than students who never had access

4. Which prompt best keeps you doing the thinking?

'Give me five practice questions and wait for my answers before showing solutions.'
'Solve all ten homework problems and show me the final answers for each one.'
'Rewrite my whole paragraph so it sounds better, then I will submit it.'
'Write a full essay on climate change that I can hand in as my own work.'

5. What is an AI hallucination?

A plausible-sounding output that is wrong or made up
When the AI refuses to answer a harmful request
A deliberate joke hidden in the AI by developers
A visual glitch that makes your screen flicker

6. In Mata v. Avianca (2023), what did the lawyers file?

A brief citing court decisions that did not exist
A request asking the court to ban AI in legal work
A complaint suing OpenAI over wrong ChatGPT answers
A fully accurate brief that the AI helped to format

7. According to JCQ, which acknowledgement of AI is acceptable?

The tool's name and the date generated, plus how you used it
Simply writing 'ChatGPT' at the end of the piece of work
Simply writing 'AI' at the end of the piece of work
No acknowledgement at all, as long as you changed a few words

8. Under JCQ guidance, which of these counts as malpractice?

Using AI to write the analysis section of coursework without saying so
Revising for the exam with flashcards you made yourself from your notes
Asking your teacher to explain what a coursework question is asking
Reading a textbook chapter to understand the topic before you start

9. What does Google advise about entering confidential information into Gemini?

Confidential details are fine as long as you delete the chat later
It is completely private, so you can safely enter anything at all
Only share it if you type it in a language other than English
Do not enter anything you would not want a human reviewer to see

10. According to OpenAI's terms, what do users under 18 need?

Nothing extra; the rules are the same
A parent or legal guardian's permission
A paid subscription to the Plus plan
A university or school email address

11. In Kaplan's survey, what percentage of admissions officers said they had visited applicants' social media?

2 per cent
100 per cent
90 per cent
28 per cent

12. Why should you delete old, unused accounts?

Deleting them makes your phone run noticeably faster and smoother
Old accounts keep charging a small fee every month until deleted
Universities require applicants to delete them by law before applying
They add to your footprint and can be hacked without you noticing

13. What does the NCSC recommend for creating a strong, memorable password?

Your pet's name with a 1 at the end
Replacing o with 0 in a common word
Using your birthday
Combining three random words

14. Why should your email password be different from all your others?

Schools and teachers require it before you can use your email
Criminals who get into your email can reach your other accounts
Using a separate password makes your emails send more quickly
Email providers charge a fee when you reuse the same password

15. When did the UAE launch its Strategy for Artificial Intelligence?

January 2010
It has not launched one
December 2024
October 2017

16. What was unusual about the UAE's 2017 appointment of a Minister of State for AI?

It was a paid role in a private company
The minister appointed was an AI robot
The role lasted only one day in total
It was the world's first minister for AI

Answer key

B: Google for Developers: a language model estimates the probability of tokens occurring in a sequence and builds text from those predictions.
C: Google for Developers: one token is roughly three quarters of an English word, so 400 tokens is about 300 words.
A: Stanford SCALE summary of Bastani et al.: students who used GPT Base performed 17 per cent worse than those who never had access, once access was removed.
A: University of Chicago: asking for practice questions and answering them yourself first is a recommended way to learn with AI.
A: IBM: AI hallucinations are outputs that sound plausible but are factually wrong, irrelevant or fabricated.
A: LawSites: the lawyers relied on ChatGPT and cited non-existent decisions with fabricated quotes; the judge fined them 5,000 US dollars.
A: JCQ: cite the AI tool by name and the date generated; citing only 'AI' or 'ChatGPT' is not acceptable.
A: JCQ: using AI to complete parts of an assessment, such as analysis, evaluation or calculations, is misuse.
D: Google Gemini Apps privacy hub: please don't enter confidential information that you wouldn't want a reviewer to see.
B: OpenAI terms of use: you must be at least 13, and under-18s need a parent or legal guardian's permission.
D: Kaplan (January 2024): 28 per cent of 205 admissions officers surveyed said they had visited applicants' social media.
D: UK Safer Internet Centre: deactivating old profiles stops content being searchable and removes the risk of an unused account being hacked.
D: NCSC: use three random words to create a password that is difficult to crack.
B: NCSC: protect your email with a strong and separate password because access to it can unlock other accounts.
D: u.ae: the UAE Government launched the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in October 2017.
D: Wikipedia (Omar Al Olama): the UAE was the first country to appoint a minister for artificial intelligence, in October 2017.

General information only, written from the sources listed in each online lesson. Laws, numbers and services change, so check official sources. Life-Ready Society, https://lifereadysociety.com/ai-digital/