Artificial Intelligence and Society

Active learning works for this topic because AI’s societal impacts are complex and evolving. Students need to confront real-world dilemmas, compare perspectives, and test their own assumptions through structured interaction rather than passive reading.

• Year 10
• HASS
• 4 activities
• 40 min–50 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze the potential benefits and risks associated with the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in various sectors.
2. Evaluate the ethical considerations, including bias and accountability, surrounding the development and deployment of AI technologies.
3. Predict and explain how AI might transform specific industries, such as healthcare, transportation, or manufacturing, and impact daily life.
4. Compare and contrast different approaches to AI governance and regulation proposed by various countries or organizations.

Jigsaw

⏱ 50 min·Small Groups

Jigsaw: AI Applications

Assign small groups one AI application (healthcare, transport, jobs). Groups research benefits and risks using provided articles, then teach peers in mixed jigsaw groups. End with whole-class synthesis chart.

Prepare & details

Analyze the potential benefits and risks of widespread AI adoption.

Facilitation Tip: For the Jigsaw Expert Groups, assign each group a sector and require them to present a 2-minute summary using only a single data point from their research.

Setup: Flexible seating for regrouping

Materials: Expert group reading packets, Note-taking template, Summary graphic organizer

• Understand
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Relationship Skills
• Self-Management

Formal Debate

⏱ 45 min·Pairs

Ethical Dilemma Role-Play: Stations

Set up stations with scenarios like biased hiring AI or self-driving car choices. Pairs role-play stakeholders, discuss decisions, rotate stations, and vote on resolutions. Debrief key ethics.

Prepare & details

Explain the ethical considerations surrounding AI development and use.

Facilitation Tip: During the Ethical Dilemma Role-Play, provide each station with a one-page case study and a timer to keep discussions focused and equitable.

Setup: Two teams facing each other, audience seating for the rest

Materials: Debate proposition card, Research brief for each side, Judging rubric for audience, Timer

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Gallery Walk

⏱ 40 min·Individual

Future Prediction Gallery Walk

Individuals sketch AI impacts on 2035 life in five areas (work, school, health). Post on walls for gallery walk; small groups add sticky-note predictions and questions. Discuss trends.

Prepare & details

Predict how AI might transform various industries and daily life in the future.

Facilitation Tip: In the Future Prediction Gallery Walk, post students’ predictions around the room before discussion so they see the range of possibilities in real time.

Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter

Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Formal Debate

⏱ 50 min·Small Groups

Debate Carousel: Benefits vs Risks

Form pro/con teams for statements like 'AI will create more jobs than it destroys.' Rotate positions midway, argue with evidence cards, then reflect in pairs on shifted views.

Prepare & details

Analyze the potential benefits and risks of widespread AI adoption.

Facilitation Tip: Use the Debate Carousel to rotate students between stations every 3 minutes, ensuring they hear multiple viewpoints before committing to a stance.

Setup: Two teams facing each other, audience seating for the rest

Materials: Debate proposition card, Research brief for each side, Judging rubric for audience, Timer

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Teaching This Topic

Teachers should treat this topic as a series of ethical laboratories where students test their own biases against data. Avoid overloading with technical details; focus instead on helping students recognize that AI systems reflect human choices. Research shows students grasp abstract concepts like bias more deeply when they see concrete examples from their own lives or communities.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students confidently distinguishing fact from fiction in AI claims, articulating trade-offs between benefits and risks, and applying ethical reasoning to unfamiliar scenarios. They should leave able to critique AI applications with evidence, not just opinions.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Jigsaw Expert Groups: AI Applications, students may claim AI 'understands' human language or emotions.

What to Teach Instead

During Jigsaw Expert Groups: AI Applications, have groups present a side-by-side comparison of a human response and an AI response to the same prompt, highlighting where the AI lacks context or nuance.

Common Misconception

During Ethical Dilemma Role-Play: Stations, students may assume AI systems are developed without human bias.

What to Teach Instead

During Ethical Dilemma Role-Play: Stations, provide each case study with a sample of biased training data and ask students to identify how the data might skew the AI’s decisions.

Common Misconception

During Future Prediction Gallery Walk, students may believe AI’s societal impacts are entirely unpredictable.

What to Teach Instead

During Future Prediction Gallery Walk, ask students to ground their predictions in current trends, such as job market data or policy documents, and explain how they arrived at their conclusions.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

After Ethical Dilemma Role-Play: Stations, facilitate a class debate where students represent different stakeholder groups and argue their positions using evidence from the case studies they examined.

Quick Check

During Debate Carousel: Benefits vs Risks, ask students to write down one benefit, one ethical risk, and one question they would ask the developers of the AI system they are discussing.

Exit Ticket

After Future Prediction Gallery Walk, have students complete an exit ticket naming one industry transformed by AI in the next 10 years and explaining how, plus one question they still have about AI’s societal impact.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask students to design a new AI application that addresses a gap they identified during the Jigsaw activity, including an ethical safeguard.
• Scaffolding: Provide sentence starters for the Debate Carousel, such as 'One benefit is...' and 'This risk occurs because...' to support hesitant speakers.
• Deeper exploration: Invite a guest speaker (e.g., an ethicist, engineer, or affected worker) to share their experiences after the gallery walk, then have students revise their predictions.

Key Vocabulary

Artificial Intelligence (AI)	The simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems, including learning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Algorithmic Bias	Systematic and repeatable errors in a computer system that create unfair outcomes, such as privileging one arbitrary group of users over others.
Machine Learning	A type of AI that allows computer systems to learn from and make decisions based on data, without being explicitly programmed.
Automation	The use of technology to perform tasks with minimal human intervention, often applied to repetitive or complex processes.
AI Ethics	A field of study concerned with the moral implications and societal impact of artificial intelligence, focusing on fairness, accountability, and transparency.