How is AI Trained?

Overview

This lesson plan aims to help students understand how data is a building block of artificial intelligence (AI) and how AI uses data to learn and create. The lesson consists of a video introduction, a group discussion, and a practice activity where students train an AI system using different types of data. The lesson also covers some vocabulary terms related to AI, such as input, output, and data. The lesson objectives are to help students identify what AI can do based on the data it is trained on, and to help them become more critical and responsible users of this technology.

NB Curricular Connections

Technology 6-8

• Strand: Information Technology Skills – Big Idea: Computational Practice

Technology 9

• Strand: Information Technology Skills – Big Idea: Computational Practice

Computer Science 110

• Strand: Computation Thinking – Big Idea: Decomposition; Pattern Recognition; Abstraction; Algorithms
• Strand: Coding – Big Idea: Planning and Documentation; Software; Data

What You’ll Need

Instructions

• 1. Watch the video introduction to learn how AI uses data to learn and create.
  2. Discuss with your classmates the following questions: What are some examples of data that you share online? What are some types of AI that use this data? How do you think AI learns from this data?
  3. Go to the website Teachable Machine and choose one of the three options: Image Project, Audio Project, or Pose Project.
  4. Follow the instructions on the website to train your AI system using different types of data. For example, you can train it to recognize different animals, emotions, or gestures.
  5. Test your AI system by giving it new inputs and see what outputs it produces. You can also export your model and share it with others.
  6. Reflect on your experience and answer the following questions: What did you learn about how AI uses data? What challenges did you face while training your AI system? How could you improve your AI system with more or better data?

Reflection Activity

Please see the attached PDF for several choices on how you and your learners can reflect upon today’s activity.

Acknowledgements

1. Common Sense Media: https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/what-is-ai