New AI teaching resources released

Children’s Parliament, the Scottish AI Alliance, and the Alan Turing Institute have released a free AI teaching pack designed to support primary school teachers to introduce the concept of AI to their pupils, centring around AI’s impact on children’s lives and their rights.

The teaching pack was developed following work done on the “Exploring Children’s Rights and AI” project, and was designed in collaboration with pupils and teachers across Scotland after 79% of teachers surveyed said they had received no guidance on teaching AI.

The pack is split into six lessons, complete with lesson plans and slides, covering topics relevant to pupils' own experiences including an introduction to AI, how AI uses data, and the role of AI in education. The lessons are intended to not only explain the purpose of AI, but also its limitations, including potential bias and incorrect information, and its environment impact, such as AI’s carbon emissions and the alarming levels of water consumption.

The teaching pack also includes a guide for teachers intended to be a foundational introduction to the topic, covering areas such as generative AI vs Large Language Models, the difficulties in defining AI, and AI’s environment impact.

Regarding the importance of the pack, a member of Children’s Parliament said: “AI will be in all our lives, so we need to know what it means and how it works before we grow up.”

To learn more about AI education resources, visit the Scottish AI Alliance website.