THE HUMAN QUESTION

Chapter 03 / Lesson 2 · The practice lab

Try it. Check it. Own it.

Ask for a challenge to your own first idea instead of a replacement. Follow Carla's demonstration, pause to make your own attempt, and compare your check with the result.

Video · 3:06Activity time is additionalStudent course

Your next moves

Make the lesson yours.

Open the AI Lab activity below and make your first attempt before using AI.
Save a solo attempt, a critique and your own revised version.
Use only a school-approved tool that permits your age. Check its age and consent rules; adult permission cannot override an 18+ restriction. Use fictional or non-sensitive examples.
If no suitable tool is available, review the demonstration and complete the evidence check on paper.
Close the tool. Explain your result, what you verified and what you would revise.

Your activity / Right here

Bring a notebook. Begin below.

The activity is included on this page. Work on paper or in your own document; keep your first attempt and the evidence you checked.

AI Lab: Challenge, Don't Replace

Use only an AI tool your instructor approves and that allows users your age. Check its minimum age and parent-permission rules first; an adult's permission cannot override an 18+ limit. Follow your school's rules, and do not share personal information. About 30 minutes.

1. Type your three circled ideas. Leave out your name, your school's name, and anything private.

2. Set the rule with Dr. Q's Five Steps, like Carla did:

You are a tough but fair creative coach. Your objective is to help me improve my own ideas. Do not give me new ideas, and do not rewrite mine. For each idea, ask me two hard questions, name one weakness, and tell me which part sounds most typical. Then stop.

3. If the AI offers ideas of its own anyway, write "AI idea" next to each one and set it aside.

4. Own (no AI): Close the chat. On paper, improve your three ideas using the questions and weak spots. Choose one favorite.

5. Assist again: Bring back only your improved favorite. Ask: "What is the strongest objection someone could raise? What would I need to check to know whether this would work?"

6. Own again (no AI): Write your final version on paper, in your own words.

7. Verify: If the AI stated any fact (a cost, a rule, a number, or "this has been done before"), check it with a reliable source or a person who would know, like your instructor. Write what you found and where.

8. Record your AI use: which tool you used, what you asked, what you kept, and what you rejected.

Own It

No AI. About 10 minutes.

Make your idea notebook page, the portfolio piece for this chapter. On one page, by hand:

1. The date and the question you worked on.

2. Your best ten ideas from the sprint.

3. Your final idea in one sentence.

4. A two-column box: "What AI added" and "What I kept."

5. One sentence: "The part of this idea that is most mine is __________ because __________."

Context File Upgrade

Add this section to my_context.md, right under "## My Core Values":

## How I Think First
- My rule: I try on paper for 15 minutes before I ask AI.
- For creative work: AI may question and challenge my ideas. It may not replace them.

Change the number to fit you. Ten minutes is a fine start. What matters is that your own thinking goes first.

Skeptic's Corner: Catch the Stretch

These statements are exercises to classify and check. Do not assume every statement is true.

Headlines often stretch a study past what it found. Compare each made-up headline with what the study reported.

Made-up headline	What the study reported
"Science Proves Boredom Makes You a Genius"	In two studies with 80 and 90 participants, "boring activities resulted in increased creativity" on tasks that came right after.
"AI Makes Everyone More Creative"	Stories with AI ideas were rated more creative on average, and they were also "more similar to each other than stories by humans alone."
"Never Use AI for Ideas"	The studies describe a trade-off. AI ideas helped individual writers and also reduced the variety of ideas across a group.

For each headline, write: What did it add? What did it leave out? Which of the six labels from Chapter 1 fits the headline itself?

Pause & reflect

What changed in your thinking?

Write one sentence in your notebook. Name what you checked, what you chose, or what you want to explore next.

Read the video transcript

Read along, pause, or return to an idea. This transcript follows the selected lesson video.

I'm Carla, an AI avatar. Before I open any AI, look at this. Thirty ideas, by hand, for a made-up school art club fundraiser. Some are great. Some are terrible. That's what a Solo pass should look like. I circled my three best: a teacher karaoke night, a paper airplane contest with a small entry fee, and a raffle where the winner paints one tile of a school mural. Now the Assist pass. My rule is simple. The AI challenges my ideas, and it never replaces them. Why? The first ideas an AI gives tend to be the typical ones, and I already have thirty ideas of my own. I build the prompt with Dr. Q's Five Steps. Role: you are a tough but fair creative coach. Objective: help me improve my own ideas. Do not give me new ideas, and do not rewrite mine. Context: a high school art club wants to raise money for supplies, and here are my three ideas. Task: for each idea, ask two hard questions, name one weakness, and tell me which part sounds most typical. Then stop. Here's what came back. For karaoke: Why would a student pay to watch teachers sing? What if only three teachers agree? Good questions. I don't love them, which is how I know they're good. It also said my paper airplane contest sounds like every other school contest. Fair. That's the typical part it found. Step five, audit. Look at the last line: "You could also try a bake sale!" That breaks my rule. It's a new idea, and about as typical as a fundraiser gets. I write "AI idea" next to it and set it aside. Now the Own pass. Laptop closed. I answer the hard question on paper. Why would students pay? Because they get to choose the song. Students vote with coins, and each teacher sings the winner. Assist again. I bring back only my improved idea and ask: What's the strongest objection a principal might raise? The AI says noise, and the rules for collecting cash. Both are fair. Both go on my list to check. Own again. My final version, in my words: a Friday karaoke night after school, with coin voting, if the principal approves and a teacher counts the money. Notice the loop. The AI got two turns. I got three, including the first word and the last word. Then I verify. The AI guessed about the rules for collecting cash. A guess is a starting point, so I'll ask the club advisor what our school's rule actually is. Last, I record my AI use: the tool, what I asked, what I kept, and what I rejected. I kept one question and one objection. I rejected the bake sale. The AI asked the questions. The ideas are still mine. Your turn. Take your three best ideas from your idea sprint and run the loop. And if the AI breaks your rule, restate the rule and keep your idea.

Before you use an AI tool

Follow your course or institution's rules. Use an instructor-approved tool that permits your age, and meet any required consent conditions. Keep names, contact details, school records, and other private information out of prompts. Use fictional examples when you can.

Learning without an AI account

Follow the demonstration, pause before each answer, and do the reasoning on paper. Discuss what you would ask, how you would check it, and which decisions would remain yours.

About the characters and voices

This course uses AI-created characters and synthetic voices. Carla is an AI avatar. They help tell the story; they are not real students sharing testimonials.

Designed for high-school and community-college learners. Choose examples from your classes, work, and everyday life. Keep your completed work in your course portfolio.

03.2 Carla's Walkthrough: Challenge, Don't Replace

Try it. Check it. Own it.

Make the lesson yours.

Bring a notebook. Begin below.

What changed in your thinking?