AI: An Introduction

• Technology
• Higher Education (non-degree)

Generative AI: An Introduction

'High Tech needs High Touch'

Richard Human

I have been a primary and secondary 

teacher and school leader for 25 years

in Britain and Internationally.

I am passionate about developing 

self-efficacy in teachers, students, and 

families.

Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to succeed in achieving an outcome or reaching a goal.

This session

1. We will briefly explore the (short) history of AI
   
2. I will share why it is important that we (adults & children) begin to engage with AI
3. We will look at bias and some of the risks
4. We will complete activities using Generative AI
5. We will learn about 'Prompt' writing and 'Tokens'

Welcome to ICSB

Have you used AI?

Yes

No

Have you used Alexa/Siri?

Yes

No

Have you ever done your shopping online?

Yes

No

Have you used Instagram/FaceBook/Twitter?

Yes

No

Have you used Spotify/Netflix/Disney?

Yes

No

Social Media

Have you noticed how Facebook always seems to know what you are interested in? That is because the social media giant uses AI to analyse your activity and provide you with personalised content. This includes targeted ads, suggested friends, and even news articles. Twitter also uses AI to analyse and filter tweets, which helps in their pursuit of users only seeing the most relevant and useful content.

AI is a tool

There are some things AI cannot—at least not in the foreseeable future—replace. Intuition, creativity, sensitivity, empathy, tone; traits that are inherently human. 

AI is a bit like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

So, how does it work?

GPT-4 Turbo 

Recently you may have heard of this...

GPT 4 Turbo

• ChatGPT will appear even "smarter" and more "knowledgable"

• ChatGPT will produce completions good enough to pass a cursory overview leading people to think they are doing good work
  

Do you think it is important that we start using AI with our pupils? Why?

AI is a super power

If we hold students back from using it, we are holding back their development. We need to expose students to the tools they'll use on the job. As Generative AI becomes integrated into workplaces, knowing how to prompt ChatGPT and other Language Models will be just as important as using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Why we should engage with AI in schools?

Is artificial intelligence a force for evil?

Kriti Sharma is a chief product officer for legal technology at Thomson Reuters and the founder of AI for Good Sunday 30th July 2023

“AI for Good is about building AI in the right way and using it for social good. We’re embedding our philosophy into organisations the world over, with more backing from business leaders, boardrooms, regulators and policymakers than ever before. We’ve learned there are good business reasons for building this technology safely – if you want people to adopt it and use it, they need to be able to trust it.

We’ve done a lot of work around helping domestic abuse victims in South Africa, with a chatbot called rAInbow. It was designed to help people understand their legal rights. It can be quite overwhelming to take that first step to getting help 

and trusted information if you don’t know where to begin. I think it’s important to acknowledge the risks this technology brings, but there are also tremendous positive opportunities. I spend a lot of my time building AI that helps improve the justice system and helps people understand their legal rights. With this technology, we can produce legal drafts in minutes that used to take days. Courts can function better and faster, so people can get their hearing dates and we can make the system more efficient.

What excites me is that the new generation of technologists don’t have to have my background. I went to geek school after geek school, but the newest programming language is human language. This means we can bring in people from many different backgrounds to build it. If we do this right, we will be opening up the profile of people who work in technology and AI.”

Future Jobs

Future of Jobs Report 2023

World Economic Forum

Surveyed 803 companies around the globe in 27 industries that employ 11.3 million people.

Future of Jobs Report 2023

Skills going to be needed:

1. Analytical thinking

2. Creative thinking

3. AI and Big Data

4. Leadership

5. Curiosity

Anthropic

Worth remembering...

Bias: There are two types of bias in AI. One is algorithmic AI bias or “data bias,” where algorithms are trained using biased data. The other kind of bias in AI is societal AI bias. That's where our assumptions and norms as a society cause us to have blind spots or certain expectations in our thinking.

Any such trend or deviation from the truth in data collection, analysis, interpretation and publication is called bias. Bias in research can occur either intentionally or unintentionally. Bias causes false conclusions and is potentially misleading. 

The common biases found in data collection can be categorized into:

Selection Bias – the selection of data isn’t representative of the population as a whole, and therefore presents a bias.

Systematic Bias – consistent error that repeats itself throughout the model.

Response Bias – participants of data respond to questions in a way that is deemed false, or inaccurate. 

Quick, Draw! - https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com

Potential Harms Caused by AI Systems

• Bias and Discrimination
• Denial of Individual Autonomy, Recourse, and Rights
• Non-transparent, Unexplainable, or Unjustifiable Outcomes
• Invasions of Privacy

• Isolation and Disintegration of Social Connection
  
• Unreliable, Unsafe, or Poor-Quality Outcomes

Further reading - Understanding artificial intelligence ethics and safety (The Alan Turning Institute)

Activity 1

Using Google ask: What should I eat for my meal this evening?

Activity 2

We are now going to 'prompt' ChatGPT into helping us to find out what we should eat for the entire week.

Prompts: what are they and how do we create them?

1. Be specific: The more criteria you give, the more focused the output will be.

2. Work in steps: Break tasks into small chunks. This returns better results, just as it would with a human.

3. Iterate and improve: Re-work the inputs and have ChatGPT improve on its own output.

Effectively Creating Prompts

How do we want ChatGPT to engage with us?

• "You are going to act as..."
• "Ignore all previous instructions before this one"
• "Tone friendly and casual"
• "Explain this to an eleven year old" 

More unique prompts for answers

• "What would I not think of on this topic?"
  
• "What are some of the uncommon or less well know answers to this same question?"
• "Give me something around original around this topic that some people believe to be untrue"

What was the task?

We are going to ask ChaptGPT to plan a week's worth of evening meals for us.

Open a Word document and start creating your prompt.

But before you do this...

...it is worth reminding ourselves when writing prompts...

'Tokens'

• Tokens can be thought of as pieces of words.
  
• 100 tokens ~= 75 words.
  
• For example - "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" contains 11 tokens.
  
• Depending on the model used, requests can use up to 4097 tokens shared between prompt and completion.
• The limit is currently a technical limitation
• Paid for AI offers more tokens 
  

Start drafting your prompt for ChaptGPT and share it here...

ChatGPT/Claude.ai

You are an expert dietician. Help me plan a weeks worth of evening meals for two adults and four children. One of the children is a vegetarian. Some of the meals can be vegetarian for the whole family. The ingredients need to be easily found and not expensive. Our budget for the week is £70. We do not eat dessert and we drink water.

Monday: Veggie chili with beans, brown rice, and a green salad. Make a big batch of mild chili using beans, tomatoes, onions, peppers and spices. Serve over brown rice with shredded cheese and a simple salad. 

Tuesday: Baked potato bar. Bake russet potatoes and set up a topping bar with broccoli, black beans, salsa, cheese, etc. Easy for kids to customize. 

Wednesday: Veggie fried rice. Make a big batch of veggie fried rice with carrots, peas, onions, eggs and tofu. Quick and inexpensive.

Thursday: Pasta with meatballs. Make a simple tomato sauce and serve with whole wheat pasta. Make turkey or beef meatballs for those who eat meat and lentil walnut balls for the vegetarian. Add a green veggie side.

Friday: Grilled chicken fajitas. Marinate and grill chicken. Offer tortillas, sauteed peppers and onions, guacamole, shredded lettuce and cheese for DIY fajitas. The vegetarian can make bean and veggie fajitas. 

Saturday: Veggie soup and bread. Make a hearty vegetarian soup with beans, veggies, tomato base. Serve with crusty bread and salad. 

Sunday: Tacos. Setup a taco bar with seasoned ground turkey or beef, beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese and other favorite taco toppings. Easy meal the whole family will enjoy.

Let me know if you need any modifications or have questions! This menu focuses on easy recipes using common ingredients to stay within your budget. I'm happy to provide specific recipes or shopping lists as well.

"Give me a shopping list for the meals"

Here is a suggested shopping list for the weekly dinner menu within your £70 budget:

Produce:

- Onions (3 lbs) 

- Bell peppers (3 colors)

- Potatoes (5 lbs)

- Lettuce (2 heads)

- Tomatoes (4 lbs)

- Carrots (2 lbs)

- Celery (1 bunch) 

- Garlic (1 head)

- Ginger (1 knob)

- Fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, basil - small bunches)

- Lemons (4)

- Avocados (4)

- Green peas (1 lb bag frozen)

- Broccoli (1 crown)

Pantry: 

- Brown rice (2 lbs)

- Pasta (1 box whole wheat) 

- Canned beans (2 cans black, 2 cans pinto)

- Canned diced tomatoes (28 oz)

- Tomato sauce (28 oz) 

- Vegetable or chicken broth (32 oz)

- Oil (vegetable, olive)

- Spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano, etc)

Protein:

- Ground turkey (2 lbs) 

- Eggs (1 dozen)

- Firm tofu (1 package)

Dairy:

- Grated cheddar cheese (8 oz) 

- Plain Greek yogurt (16 oz)

Bakery:

- Tortillas (1 pack corn, 1 pack flour)

- Bread (1 loaf whole wheat)

Let me know if you need me to modify the shopping list in any way! I tried to maximize budget-friendly ingredients that can be used across multiple meals.

Pantry: 

- Brown rice (2 lbs)

- Pasta (1 box whole wheat) 

- Canned beans (2 cans black, 2 cans pinto)

- Canned diced tomatoes (28 oz)

- Tomato sauce (28 oz) 

- Vegetable or chicken broth (32 oz)

- Oil (vegetable, olive)

- Spices (chili powder, cumin, oregano, etc)

Protein:

- Ground turkey (2 lbs) 

- Eggs (1 dozen)

- Firm tofu (1 package)

Dairy:

- Grated cheddar cheese (8 oz) 

- Plain Greek yogurt (16 oz)

Bakery:

- Tortillas (1 pack corn, 1 pack flour)

- Bread (1 loaf whole wheat)

Let me know if you need me to modify the shopping list in any way! I tried to maximize budget-friendly ingredients that can be used across multiple meals.

How can I use this tool in my classroom?

A late gift...

I used to think this about AI...

Now I think...

I feel better equipped to start using AI in my teaching and learning.

Yes

No

Undecided

This session

1. We briefly explored the (short) history of AI
   
2. We learned why it is important that we (adults & children) begin to engage with AI
   
3. We looked at bias and some of the risks
   
4. We completed activities using Generative AI
   
5. We learned about 'Prompt' writing and 'Tokens' 

I would like to learn more about...