The AI's guessing trick
Why the same question can get different answers
Ask the AI the same thing twice
Ask an AI to draw the same thing a few times. Look at how the pictures come out.
Have you ever asked your friend a question? Then later, you ask them the same thing. Sometimes they say something different!
AIs do that too. Let's see it happen.
Please draw a silly little cat wearing a hat. Simple and fun, like a children's book picture.
Please draw a friendly green dinosaur eating an ice cream. Simple and fun, like a children's book picture.
Look at what the AI drew and ask:
- Did we get the same picture each time? Or was each one a bit different?
- Which one was your favourite? Why?
- If you drew a silly cat, would YOUR cat look the same every time?
Give each pupil a bit of paper. Ask them to draw a silly cat wearing a hat. Now hold them all up. Are any two exactly the same? Point out that even people don't do exactly the same thing twice, and the AI is a bit like that too.
The AI guesses each time
The AI is not like a calculator. A calculator always gives the same answer.
But the AI is a bit like your brain. It has to make lots of small choices when it makes a picture or a story. Which colour? Which word? Which hat?
Each time, it might choose different things. So each time, the answer is a bit different. That's just how the AI works.
Ask the class: 'If I asked you to draw the best breakfast in the world, would we all draw the same thing?'
No! Because we each pick different things. The AI picks different things too, every time.
Same or different?
Sometimes we WANT the AI to make different pictures. That is fun!
Sometimes we want the same answer every time. That helps us learn.
Let's tap the cards and see when each one is best.
Tap each card to see.
A silly cat
Different is FUN. We want to see lots of silly cats.
How to spell 'cat'
Same is BEST. If the AI keeps changing the spelling, we cannot learn.
A picture of a rainbow
Different is FINE. Rainbows can look lots of ways.
The answer to 2 + 2
Same, please! 2 + 2 is always 4. We do not want a guess.
So the guessing trick is fine for fun. But for things like spelling and adding, we want the SAME answer every time.
Show the class two questions. Ask: which one should the AI give the SAME answer to?
- What is 5 add 3?
- Draw me a silly monster.
(The maths one needs the same answer. The monster can be different every time.)
How to help the AI
When you ask the AI something, be really clear. Say what you want.
And if the answer is not right, do not worry! Ask again. Or ask in a different way.
The AI is a helper, but it is also a guesser. You are the boss.
Ask the class to tell you how to draw a cat. First just say 'draw a cat'. Then say 'draw a HAPPY cat with BIG eyes and a PURPLE hat'.
Which one gets us closer to the cat we wanted? The clear one!