In Session 18 you learned that AI is a pattern-guessing machine that learns from examples. Today you meet the kind of AI everyone is talking about: chatbots that write answers to your questions. You will learn how to ask them good questions, how to catch their mistakes, and how to stay safe and honest when you use them.
An AI chatbot (for example ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Meta AI in WhatsApp) is a program you can "chat" with by typing or speaking. It was trained on a huge amount of text from books and websites. From all that text it learned which words usually follow which other words.
When you ask a question, the chatbot predicts a good-sounding answer one word at a time, a bit like your phone keyboard suggesting the next word, but far more powerful.
A prompt is the instruction or question you type to an AI. A vague prompt gets a vague answer. A clear prompt gets a useful one. It is like sending a younger cousin to the market: "Buy food" brings back anything, but "Buy 6 eggs and a tin of tomatoes, under 50 cedis" brings back what you need.
| Letter | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| C | CONTEXT: who you are and who it is for | "I am a JHS 1 pupil in Ghana…" |
| L | LIMITS: how long and in what shape | "…in 5 short bullet points…" |
| E | EXAMPLES & DETAILS: the facts it needs | "…with examples from farming and electricity…" |
| A | ASK: one clear task | "Explain how the Volta River helps Ghana." |
| R | REVIEW: read the answer and check it | Is it true? Is it what I asked? Ask a follow-up if not. |
Tell me about rivers.
Which rivers? For whom? How long? The AI has to guess.
I am a JHS 1 pupil in Ghana. Explain how the Volta River helps Ghana, with examples from farming and electricity, in 5 short bullet points.
Rewrite each vague prompt as a C.L.E.A.R. one.
Vague: "Help with science."
Vague: "Write about my town."
Because a chatbot predicts words that sound right, it sometimes makes things up: wrong dates, invented quotes, books that do not exist, even fake website links. People call this a hallucination. The answer often looks neat, polite and very sure of itself, so mistakes are easy to miss.
.gov.gh or .edu.gh).A pupil asked a chatbot about Ghana's history and got this answer. Underline the mistakes, then write the corrections. (Use your Social Studies knowledge or ask your mentor.)
Mistake 1 and the correct fact:
Mistake 2 and the correct fact:
Where could you check? Name one trusted source.
AI can now create photos, videos and voices that look and sound real. A fake one made with AI is called a deepfake. Scammers have used cloned voices to phone people: "Mum, it's me! I'm in trouble, send MoMo now!"
Messages you type into an AI tool can be stored by the company and may even be used to train future AI. Treat a chatbot like a public noticeboard: never type your P.I.I. (full name with your school, home address, phone or MoMo number, passwords or PINs), and never upload photos of other people without their permission.
AI can be a patient tutor: it can explain a hard idea in a new way or quiz you before a test. But if AI does your homework and you hand it in as your own, you learn nothing, and it is cheating. Follow your school's rules, and if you used AI, say so.
| How is the AI being used? | Helper ✅ | Cheater ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| Asking AI to explain fractions with a market example, then doing the homework yourself. | ||
| Copying an AI-written essay and putting your name on it. | ||
| Asking AI for 5 quiz questions to test yourself before an exam. | ||
| Using AI to answer test questions while the teacher is not looking. |
Open the AI Helper Check 3D lab on your session page. It uses a pretend AI helper, so you don't need an account or the internet. Complete all three missions and record your results:
| Mission | What happened? |
|---|---|
| Build a clear prompt. Which pieces made the answer better? | |
| Check the AI's answers. How many of its answers were wrong? | |
| Safe or never? Name two things you must never type into AI. |
With your mentor, at the Hub, or with a parent or guardian beside you, use a real chatbot (for example ChatGPT, Gemini or Meta AI). No P.I.I., no passwords, no photos of people.
| AI Scenario | Wise ✅ | Unwise ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| A chatbot gives you a date for a history project. You check it in your textbook before using it. | ||
| You type your full name, school and home address so the AI can "write a story about you". | ||
| A voice note that sounds like your uncle asks you to send his MoMo PIN quickly. You call him back on his usual number first. | ||
| You share a shocking video of a politician on WhatsApp straight away, without checking if it is real. |
Question 1: Why can a chatbot give an answer that sounds sure but is wrong?
Question 2: What do the letters of C.L.E.A.R. stand for?
Tick the column that reflects your confidence at the end of Level 9 (Artificial Intelligence):
| Wise AI User Competency | With Help | Almost Alone | All By Myself! |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. I can explain how a chatbot creates its answers. | |||
| 2. I can write a clear prompt using C.L.E.A.R. | |||
| 3. I check AI answers against trusted sources before I use them. | |||
| 4. I keep my P.I.I. out of AI tools, spot deepfake tricks and use AI honestly. |
BIH JHS Tech Club · a Bozoma Innovation Hub programme · Your answers are saved only on this computer.