Scottish school pupils helping develop toolkit to teach the positives and pitfalls of AI

School children across Scotland are helping to develop a toolkit to teach the positives and pitfalls of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen has developed a new digital literacy project to improve the understanding of the technology.

Pupils from Forfar Academy in Angus, Hazelhead Academy in Aberdeen and Eastwood High School in East Renfrewshire are involved in developing the toolkit as part of the ‘Maddie is Online’ project, which centres around the everyday life of a fictitious pre-teen girl called Maddie, who experiences troubles online.

Over the next year, a team from RGU will partner with secondary school students to co-create a series of educational Generative Artificial Intelligence Skills in Schools resources to explore the responsible use of GenAI.

RGU has received funding to design the digital skills series to empower school children with skills and knowledge to use artificial intelligence safely.

Six projects across the UK, have been awarded a share of £500,000 funding from Responsible AI UK, a consortium of experts from UK universities working to develop trustworthy artificial intelligence.

Dr Konstantina Martzoukou, associate professor from RGU’s School of Law and Social Sciences and lead of the ‘Maddie is Online’ digital skills project, said: “We want to co-create an interesting and fun set of resources to enhance young people’s understanding of generative artificial intelligence.

“Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming integral to our everyday lives, and it is vital that we equip young people, and the wider community with the skills to navigate AI. RGU is committed to contributing to the health and well-being of society, and through our project, we are giving back something tangible that will contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of Scotland.”

Pupils from Forfar Academy are among those helping to develop and design the toolkit that will eventually be rolled out to schools across Scotland.

S2 pupil, Kale Coventry said: “It’s actually a lot more complex than I thought it was because I thought it was just I’ll ask it questions and it’ll answer but there’s a lot more to it. You have to word your questions right or it won’t work or it will so it’s pretty interesting.”

School pupils have been learning about AI and other technology STV News

Raia Florence, who is in S3, added: “You can use it for school work if your stuck with something, you can use it for anything really and you can have fun and play around with it but the cons, third parties like Snapchat can see your location, things can be listening in, sharing stuff. It’s good but it’s scary at the same time.”

The team from RGU will work with school librarians across Scotland to create the new AI online safety programme, and to help empower young people’s voices.

Ioannis Panayiotakis, a school librarian from Eastwood High School in East Renfrewshire said, “School librarians have always been the guardians of information integrity. It is now their duty and privilege to educate students on how to effectively use this new tool that will transform our world, and we look forward to working with RGU, and young people, to develop a better understanding about artificial intelligence.”

Diane Scott, Library Resource Centre Co-ordinator, Hazlehead Academy in Aberdeen said: “Our pupils are really excited about being a part of this project, both to learn more about using AI responsibly and effectively as well as having the opportunity to help share that information with others.”

Emma Grey, school librarian at Forfar Academy, said: “We’re thrilled to be working on this really important, timely project – AI has become ubiquitous in society and it’s essential that we educate young people not only about the dangers of misinformation, but also about the exciting possibilities that come with AI.”

Dr Pascal Ezenkwu, lecturer at RGU’s School of Computing, Engineering and Technology, said: “As Artificial Intelligence continues to expand its capabilities into areas involving human-level intellect and creativity, Gen AI skills will increasingly become important for the modern world. This is particularly crucial for young people who will face the full impact of the disruption caused by this technology.

“Our project aims to develop an educational toolkit that will better prepare young people to understand how to responsibly leverage Gen AI, co-creating with it while being aware of some of the risk factors, and why the human element in the use of AI will ever remain crucial”.

Read about ‘Maddie is Online’ here: https://www.maddiesonline.com/