AIQ
AIQ
Part of the AI Career Paths lesson guide. Teaching a different grade? 🔧 Builder (8–10) · 💻 Hacker (11–14) · ⚡ Architect (15–18)
Gather students in a circle on the rug. Read the app's hook line with big, excited energy — this is a "when I grow up" conversation, and five-to-seven-year-olds love talking about that:
"When you grow up, you could work with A.I. in SO many ways! 🌟 Doctors, artists, teachers, scientists — EVERYONE will use A.I.! What do YOU want to be?"
Before opening the app, go around the circle and ask each student, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Write a few answers on the board as they come in — you'll almost certainly get some mix of doctor, teacher, artist, athlete, and "I don't know yet," and that's the perfect range to have on the board. Then ask the question that sets up the whole lesson: "Do you think a computer helper could ever help YOU do that job someday?" Take a few guesses without correcting anyone yet.
If a student says "I want to be a YouTuber" or "a gamer" or something similarly modern, lean into it rather than redirecting — it's a great excuse to say "guess what, there are people who use A.I. helpers to make videos and games too!" and it sets up Scene 2 nicely.
One more warm-up trick that works well at this age: hold up a stuffed animal or a puppet and pretend it's giving you career advice. "This little guy told me he wants to be a doctor AND he wants an A.I. helper. Do you think that's allowed?" Kids at this age love correcting a puppet, and it's a gentle, funny way to plant the idea that A.I. helpers can go with almost any job, before you've even opened the app.
Open the lesson and read through all three scenes together, out loud, translating every card into a simple sentence a five-year-old can picture. Don't worry about job titles sticking perfectly — the goal is one big idea: grown-ups who do all kinds of different jobs can use A.I. to help them.
Scene 1 — Technical Paths 💻: These four jobs are the ones where the grown-up's whole job IS building the computer-brain helpers. Keep it very simple: "Some grown-ups' whole job is teaching computer brains how to think! One kind of helper teaches the computer brain new tricks — kind of like teaching a puppy to sit, but the puppy is a computer, and instead of treats you show it examples, again and again, until it learns. Another kind looks through a giant, giant pile of information to find something interesting, like a detective looking for clues in a huge messy room. Another kind makes sure the computer brain is being safe and fair and not doing anything sneaky or mean — like a very careful safety checker who double-checks everything before it goes out into the world! And another kind builds real robots, with wheels or arms, that use a computer brain to move around and pick things up." Have students act out "robot arm picking up a block" together for a giggle before moving on, and if a student asks "can I do more than one of these when I grow up," the honest answer is yes — grown-ups often try a few different jobs before finding the one they love most.
Scene 2 — Creative + Social 🎨: "Other grown-ups use A.I. to help with jobs that are about people and ideas, not just computers. Some grown-ups use A.I. to help design fun pictures and apps — think about your favorite app or game, someone had to decide what all the buttons and colors look like! Some grown-ups write the RULES for how computer brains are allowed to be used — like a class rules poster, but for the whole country! Some grown-ups are reporters who explain A.I. news to everybody, so it doesn't sound scary or confusing, kind of like how I'm explaining A.I. to you right now instead of using big complicated words. And some grown-ups — like your teacher, right now! — teach kids about A.I., which is exactly what's happening in this room today." Point to yourself here; it lands well, and it's a nice moment to remind students that the app they use for AIQ was also made by people who love this exact job.
Scene 3 — Every Field + A.I. 🌍: "Here's the big surprise: A.I. helpers show up in jobs that don't seem like computer jobs at all! Doctors use A.I. to help figure out what's making someone feel sick, kind of like having a very smart assistant double-checking their work. Scientists who take care of our planet use A.I. to understand the weather and the earth, so they can help keep it healthy for you when you grow up. Musicians use A.I. to help make new songs, mixing sounds together in new ways. And sports coaches use A.I. to help players get stronger and avoid getting hurt, almost like a coach who never gets tired of watching every single practice!" Ask: "Which of THOSE surprised you the most?" and let a few students answer — this is usually the scene that gets the biggest reaction, because most kids don't expect "doctor" or "sports coach" to show up in an A.I. lesson.
If your puppet from the warm-up is still handy, bring it back here: "Remember our friend who wants to be a doctor? Now we know a doctor really COULD use an A.I. helper someday!" This closes the loop on the warm-up and shows students the lesson answered the exact question you opened with.
Close the walkthrough with the app's own big idea, said slowly: "A.I. jobs aren't just for computer people — they're for EVERYONE, doing EVERY kind of job, as long as they also love learning about A.I."
If your class has extra energy to burn, turn the twelve jobs into a quick "guess my job" game before moving to discussion. Whisper one job into a student's ear (keep it to the simpler ones — doctor-with-A.I., artist-with-A.I., robot-builder) and have them act it out silently while the rest of the class guesses. This gets wiggly bodies moving after a lot of sitting-and-listening, and it quietly repeats all twelve jobs one more time without feeling like repetition.
Keep these short and conversational — this age group does better with a few quick back-and-forths than one long circle-time discussion. Pick two or three rather than trying to fit all of them in.
Close with: "No matter what job you dream about — doctor, artist, athlete, musician, teacher — A.I. helpers might show up in that job someday. Your job is to keep loving what YOU love, and to keep learning a little bit about A.I. along the way." Point back to the board list from the warm-up one more time: "Every single job we wrote down today could have an A.I. helper in it!"
Extension activity — "Me and My A.I. Helper" drawing: Give each student a sheet of paper and have them draw themselves doing their dream job, with an A.I. helper somewhere in the picture (a robot arm, a computer screen, a friendly robot friend — whatever they imagine). Have a few students share their drawing and explain, in one sentence, how their A.I. helper is helping them. Hang the drawings up as a "Future Jobs" wall display — it turns the 5–15 minute core lesson into a full art-and-sharing period, and it gives you an easy, visual way to revisit the lesson's big idea later in the week.
If you have a little extra time, add a "show and tell" round the next day: ask a few students to stand next to their drawing and answer one follow-up question from the class, like "what does your A.I. helper do when it makes a mistake?" This is a gentle way to sneak in a reminder from earlier AIQ lessons — A.I. helpers can get things wrong, and a person is always the one in charge of checking their work — without turning today's fun, forward-looking lesson into a warning.
A simple alternative or add-on, if drawing supplies aren't handy: turn it into a stand-up-and-say-it circle instead. Each student stands, says "When I grow up I want to be a ___, and my A.I. helper will ___," and sits back down. It's faster than drawing, keeps every voice heard in a short amount of time, and works just as well as a closing ritual for the lesson.