Last week I showed the XNUMXth graders how they can write books with the help of artificial intelligence.
We started the lesson with the question: Who wants to be a writer? Hands went up all over the class. So why don't you write? The children started to share: one has no strength, the second feels she cannot express herself well in writing, the third has no ideas and so on.
I promised them we would take care of everything. I asked for ideas for the hero: what kind of animal is it, what is its profession, what is its name. The children threw out ideas, and after a short round of voting, they decided to write a story about a magical unicorn whose name - surprisingly in any place other than Tel Aviv - is Nechama.
I flowed. It was still an improvement over the Shmulik - the Siberian hamster that fixes toilets in schools - from the previous batch.
I connected the computer to the projector, and we entered a website that provides artificial intelligence services. There are plenty of these on the net today. We used, of course,Doctor why (Disclosure: this is my development with partners). We explained to her that we wanted to write a story about Nechama the magical unicorn, and asked for an opening paragraph. I am translating here into Hebrew the result produced by the artificial intelligence -
"היה היה פעם חד-קרן קוסם ששמו היה נחמה. נחמה אהב לתרגל קסמים ולמצוא חברים חדשים. יום אחד, נחמה פגש דרקונית שהייתה חדשה ביער הקסום בו חיו שניהם."
I asked the children if they were happy. Agreed this is a good start, but now what?
We asked the engine to generate some additional directions for us to continue. The children were not enthusiastic about the first result which looked like this -
"נחמה כל כך התרגשה לפגוש חבר חדש שהיא מיד התחילה להשוויץ בקסמים שלה. הדרקונית התרשמה ושאלה אם היא יכולה ללמוד כמה מהטריקים. נחמה שמחה ללמד את חברתה החדשה והם בילו את שארית היום בתרגול קסמים ביחד."
We tried again.
"שמה של הדרקונית היה שרה, והיא הייתה מאוד ביישנית. נחמה הייתה היצור הראשון ששרה פגשה ביער, והיא פחדה מאוד. נחמה הייתה אדיבה מאוד לשרה, והיא הראתה לה את היער והכירה אותה לכל חבריה. שרה שמחה מאוד שרכשה חברה חדשה, והיא אהבה לחיות ביער עם כל היצורים הקסומים."
גם כאן לא נרשמה התלהבות. ניסינו להבין למה, והתחלנו לפענח שיש דבר כזה – "טמפו", או מקצב של סיפור. הילדים רצו להתקדם מהר יותר. הם רצו דרמה. קונפליקט. הם הפכו לבמאים ביקורתיים עם דרישות.
So we asked the AI to realize their requirements. The next paragraph, we defined, should send Nechama and the dragon on an extraordinary adventure. Something that will drag the reader into the story.
Three seconds later, we already received the next offer.
"נחמה והדרקונית התיידדו במהירות ולעתים קרובות היו מבלים יחד בתרגול קסמים ובחקירת היער. יום אחד, בזמן שהם יצאו לחקור, הם נתקלו במערה חשוכה. הדרקונית הזהירה את נחמה לא להיכנס פנימה, אבל בהיותה החד-קרן הסקרנית שהיא, נחמה לא הקשיבה ונכנסה בכל מקרה."
The children clapped enthusiastically: we created tension in the story! They asked to continue, and threw demands into the contents of the cave: trolls, a magical ring that turns unicorns into invisible shadows and enslaves them to the Dark Lord, a whipped cream cake filled with unicorn hunters. We tried to think which of the directions was particularly suitable, and we talked about different types of stories: dramas, comedies, fantasy, science fiction. In the end, the decision was made to introduce lasers.
"המערה הייתה חשוכה ומעופשת, ונחמה חשה קצת פחד. אבל היא המשיכה ללכת, עד שהגיעה לחדר קטן בחלק האחורי של המערה. ואז היא ראתה את זה…הדבר הכי מדהים שהיא ראתה אי פעם. זה היה לייזר! נחמה כל כך התרגשה שהיא רצה בחזרה לדרקונית כדי לספר לה הכל."
Want to guess what the dragoness said?
The children also wanted to know. Basically, they wanted to create. They discovered that they had the ability to write. Not writing like before, where every word has to be carefully considered, but creative, fast writing, dizzying in the possibilities it opens up. They realized that with the help of the new tools of artificial intelligence, they can only come up with an idea - and it will help them promote it. They need to know how to use it, and they need to know how to help steer it, guide it and keep it on the right track. They are the directors - and she is the actress, the stage and the setting.
These children began to acquire the skills of the new world: to work simultaneously with the computer, to give it ideas and to receive ideas from it in return, to build on each other's contribution, and to produce something that neither party could realize on their own.
I sent them home with an invitation to continue the story themselves at home. Next week we will see what they came up with. I have no doubt that the more diligent students will also be able to return with... a book. A whole book a week.
And in the next session, I will also show them how we can all draw like the greatest artists with the help of... artificial intelligence, of course.
A new and magical world opens up, and this is just the beginning.
If you are children who want to write stories yourself, or parents and teachers who want to teach your class to write with the help of artificial intelligence, you are welcome to use Doctor Why. It doesn't cost money, and very soon the Hebrew version will also appear. Link here.
We would be happy to receive any idea for an educational activity that involves artificial intelligence!
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