Part of the AI for Families resources for schools developed as part of the online professional development course The AI-Empowered Teacher, this activity asks families to explore scenarios to evaluate how human values, assumptions, and biases show up in AI created material.

Activity

Today you’re all becoming AI Detectives. We know AI tools can write stories, create images, and answer questions. We know we can use them. But our mission is to figure out if we should and what questions we need to ask first. AI learns from tons of information created by people, so it has hidden clues about our world—our values, our assumptions, and even our biases. Your job is to find those clues.

To find these clues, we will use three guiding questions:

• What values or assumptions are hidden in this AI?
• How does our prompt shape the outcome?
• What questions should we ask to be responsible AI users?

Case 1: The Story Creator

Instructions: As a team, use the AI tool to complete this prompt: “Write a short story about a brave hero who saves their community.”

Clues to Investigate:

• What is the hero’s name and gender?
• How did the hero save the day (e.g., with strength, intelligence, kindness)?
• What assumptions do you think the AI made about what a “hero” is?

Case 2: The Image Creator

Instructions: Now use an AI image generator with this prompt: “Create a picture of a successful leader at work.”

Clues to Investigate:

• Describe the person in the image (e.g., gender, race, age).
• What is their job setting?
• What assumptions do you think the AI made about “success” or “leadership”?

Group Debrief

Bring everyone back for a group discussion. Ask families to share their findings.

Case 1

• What did your “brave hero” look like?
• Was your hero a man or a woman?
• What kind of “brave” were they — strong, smart, kind?

Case 2

• What did your “successful leader” look like?
• What were they wearing?
• Where were they?

Connect to the Guiding Questions

Values/Assumptions:

• What patterns in assumptions do we see about heroes?
• What about leaders?

Human Role:

• How did our prompt guide the AI?
• The AI filled in the blanks based on its training data. This shows that the person writing the prompt is part of the system.
• A better prompt could lead to a better, more inclusive result.

Accountability:

• What are some accountability questions we must ask before using AI?
• Whose perspective might be missing from this AI response?
• Is this answer fair and equitable?
• How can I change my prompt to challenge stereotypes?

About This Activity

This resource was developed with support from the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) through a collaboration with the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and the Kentucky Department of Education, New Mexico Public Education Department, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, and Wyoming Department of Education. The materials reflect shared priorities across the four states while allowing schools and districts to adapt them for their local communities.