Student Scenario: The TikTok "For You" Page

You spend an hour watching dog videos. The next time you open TikTok, your "For You" page is almost entirely puppies. That's not magic, it's AI.

How it Works:

The app's AI analyzes your watch time, likes, and shares. It learns your patterns and predicts what you'll want to see next to keep you engaged. It does the same thing with your Spotify "Discover Weekly" or the shows Netflix recommends.

This shows AI is a personalization engine, constantly learning from your behavior.

Student Scenario: The History Paper

Your history teacher assigns a paper on the causes of the American Revolution. You ask an AI, and it gives you a perfect-sounding answer about taxes.

Using Your Superpowers:

• Critical Thinking: You question the AI's answer. Is it too simple? What perspectives is it missing? You do your own research and find complex social and political factors the AI ignored.
• Creativity: Instead of a boring report, you create a presentation from the perspective of a colonist, using your own words and insights.

You used the AI as a starting point, but your critical thinking and creativity made the project uniquely yours.

Student Scenario: The English Essay

Student A (Wrong Way): Stressed about an essay on *The Great Gatsby*, they type the prompt into an AI and copy the result. The teacher recognizes the generic, lifeless language. The student gets a zero for plagiarism.

Student B (Right Way): They write a rough draft with their own analysis. They then ask the AI, "Act as a literary critic and find the weakest part of my argument about Gatsby's dream." The AI gives feedback, which the student uses to strengthen their *own* original ideas. They get an A.

The difference is ownership. Student B owned their work and used AI as a tool to improve it.

Student Scenario: The Lab Report

A student is stuck on the conclusion for their chemistry lab report. Their teacher has a "No AI" policy for this assignment. The student uses an AI to write the conclusion anyway.

The Consequence:

The teacher uses a tool to check the document's history and sees text pasted from an outside source. According to the SMCHS Academic Integrity policy, this is plagiarism. The student gets a zero, a Saturday detention, and their parents are contacted. It's now on their discipline record.

Violating a teacher's specific AI rules is academic dishonesty, even if you think it's "just helping."

Student Scenario: Brainstorming Ideas

Vague Prompt: "Give me ideas for a project on ancient Rome."
Result: A boring, generic list (Colosseum, Julius Caesar, etc.).

Better Prompt: "Act as a historian. My (Goal) is to find a unique topic for a 5-page paper on ancient Rome. The (Context) is that I'm interested in daily life, not just wars. (Instructions) Give me 5 surprising topics about Roman technology or engineering. (Format) Format it as a list with a one-sentence summary for each."
Result: A fascinating list including Roman aqueducts, medical tools, and road construction.

Specific prompts with Goal, Context, Instructions, and Format give you much more useful results.

Student Scenario: The "Fun" AI App

You download a new app that uses AI to make funny avatars of you and your friends. To sign up, you give it your full name, email, birthday, and access to your photo library. You don't read the privacy policy.

The Hidden Risk:

The app company now has your personal data and all your photos. They can use it to train future AI models or sell it to advertisers. You traded your privacy for a few funny pictures.

Always be skeptical. Never give away personal information unless you absolutely have to and trust the company.