Help neighbors practice three skills: check an answer, protect private information, and pause when a message creates urgency. Use the free lesson and printable kit. This is a session plan; check confirmed session information before inviting people.
Start with what people want to do
Ask for a low-risk task: drafting a public event notice, making a checklist, or preparing questions for a city office. Let people participate on paper. Nobody needs an AI account or a private document.
Explain enough to use it well
A language model generates responses from learned patterns. It can produce useful drafts and convincing errors. Some tools also search the web or calculate; a source link still needs checking. Fluency is not evidence that a claim is true.
Avoid promising that a live demonstration will make an error. Use the clearly labeled example in the lesson, then compare an answer with its original source.
Practice, check, discuss
- Ask each participant what they would check in the sample answer.
- Open the original source together. Check the organization, date, and exact claim.
- Ask what remains uncertain and which person or office can answer it.
- Repeat with a different example. Invite participants to explain their reasoning.
For a suspicious request for money, stop and contact the person or organization through a number already known to you. Keep credentials, account numbers, private health or legal documents, and other people's information out of the exercise.
Close with a useful next step
Invite each person to name one task they can try and one detail they will verify. Offer the reminder card and local digital help.
Participation checks are voluntary. Report group totals only; do not create resident scores or histories. See evaluation and metrics.