Facilitator guide: teach AI 101 in one hour
Everything you need to run a beginner AI session for the club, a class or a workplace group, with no expert knowledge required.
A ready-to-run guide for a one-hour beginner session. It works for the club, a class, a family group or a workplace lunch. Nothing here requires you to be an expert, only that you try the exercises yourself first.
Before the session
- Read AI 101 for beginners and do all four exercises yourself.
- Pick one free AI chat tool and make sure you can sign in. Have a backup tool ready in case one is down.
- Prepare one example where AI is right and one where it is confidently wrong. Test them the same day, because answers change.
- Check the room: screen or projector, Wi-Fi, and a way to show this site. Have the QR code ready so people can open this site on their own device.
- Tell people to bring a phone or laptop. Make sure no one has to pay for anything.
- Decide how you will collect quick feedback at the end (a show of hands, sticky notes, or a message in the club chat).
One-hour agenda
| Time | Segment | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 0:05 | Welcome and warm-up | Ask: "Raise a hand if you have used an AI chat tool. Now keep it up if you trust every answer." Most hands go down. Say what the session is: a safe, no-experience-needed hour. Ask people to rate their confidence with AI from 1 to 5 by a show of hands, and remember the rough result. |
| 0:05 to 0:15 | What AI is (the new-hire idea) | Teach the 30-second version from AI 101. Use the fast-new-hire comparison. Show one live example of AI being right and one of it being confidently wrong, so people see both. |
| 0:15 to 0:25 | Writing a good prompt | Walk through Role, Task, Context, Format, Check. Run the marketing-coach prompt live, then change one part (the format, say) and show how the answer changes. |
| 0:25 to 0:45 | Hands-on exercises | Pairs run Exercises 1 to 4 from AI 101 (about 5 minutes each). Walk the room. Remind everyone: made-up or non-private information only. Ask pairs to note one answer they would double-check. |
| 0:45 to 0:52 | Safety and honesty | Use the paste checker on Using AI safely. Ask the group to guess the answer for two or three examples before you reveal it. |
| 0:52 to 0:58 | Questions and what is next | Take questions (see the tough-questions list below). Point to Start here, the prompt library and the tool guides. |
| 0:58 to 1:00 | Feedback | Repeat the 1 to 5 confidence check by show of hands. Ask for one thing that was useful and one thing to change, on sticky notes or aloud. Thank them. |
Short on time? For 30 minutes, keep the welcome, the new-hire idea, the prompt formula and two exercises. For 90 minutes, add the full safety checker and let pairs build their own prompt for a real, non-private task.
Running the hands-on part
- Pair people up. Beginners learn faster when one person types and the other reads the answer critically, then they swap.
- Normalize wrong answers. When a tool gets something wrong, celebrate it as the lesson, not a failure.
- Keep data fake. Say it out loud at the start: made-up or non-private information only.
- Go at the slowest pace comfortably. It is better that everyone finishes two exercises than that a few finish four.
- Offer paper. Print the exercise prompts for anyone who prefers it. The page has a print view that hides the menus.
Answering tough questions
You do not need perfect answers. Being honest about what is uncertain builds trust.
Will AI take my job?
Be honest: nobody knows exactly. Some tasks will change, and people who can use AI well and check its work will be in demand. Point to the AI by industry page to show how work is shifting in different fields. Avoid promising either way.
Is it cheating to use AI in school?
It depends on the course and school. Tell people to read the syllabus and ask the instructor. Using AI to explain, quiz or coach is often treated differently from submitting AI-written work as your own. When in doubt, ask first and say how you used it.
Can I trust what it says?
Not blindly. Repeat the key habit: check names, numbers, dates and sources, and keep a person responsible for what goes out.
Is my data safe?
Policies differ by tool and plan and change over time. Tell people to read the tool's current data settings and to keep private information out unless their organization has approved the tool.
Which tool should I use?
Start with whichever free chat tool they can access. The goal is the skill, which transfers between tools. Plans and free limits change, so send people to each tool's official page.
Make it welcoming
- Do not assume anyone's background. Explain every term the first time, and point to the glossary.
- Let people pass on any exercise without explaining why.
- Avoid hype and fear. The tone is curious and practical.
- Be mindful of accessibility: read slides aloud, use large text, and share the links so people can follow on their own device.
After the session
- Send the links: AI 101, prompt library and Start here.
- Compare the before and after confidence check, read the feedback, and note one thing to change next time.
- Invite people to try one small real task with AI during the week and share what happened at the next meeting.
- Send fixes or ideas to the site through the contributors page.