AI Detectives: Can you Outsmart the Algorithm
AI & Technology
AI Detectives: Can you Outsmart the Algorithm
AI & Critical Thinking

AI Detectives: Can You Outsmart the Algorithm?

Step into the role of an AI Detective. Investigate how AI really works, uncover hidden bias, and build a real evidence-based report — then share it with the world.
7 Videos Ages 11–19 Intermediate General Audiences

What You Will Learn

AI is already making decisions about you every single day — what you watch, what you read, what you believe. This course doesn't just teach you about AI. It trains you to investigate it, challenge it, and prove — with real evidence — that a thinking human mind is always more powerful than an algorithm.

Across 7 mission-driven videos, you'll move from curious observer to confident investigator. You'll understand how AI systems actually work under the hood, uncover how hidden bias develops without anyone programming it, learn the exact testing methods real researchers use, and build a complete evidence-based report from scratch.

By The End, You Will Be Able To

Explain how AI generates responses, and why confidence doesn't equal accuracy
Identify AI bias and trace exactly why it occurs
Design and run a fair, repeatable test on a real AI system
Build a structured, evidence-based conclusion from your own findings
Communicate your results clearly to a real audience
Apply a critical thinking framework to any AI tool you use in the future

Course Missions

1
 Welcome to Your First Mission
The Hook
2
 How AI Really "Thinks"
Fact Drop #1
3
 The Hidden Bias Problem
Fact Drop #2
3a
 The Algorithm Audit
Bonus — Prompting Deep Dive
4
 Run the Bias Test
Action #1
5
 Build Your Verdict
Action #2
6
 Close the Case
The Outcome

What You Will Need

• A laptop, tablet, or desktop computer with internet access
• Access to at least one free AI image generation tool (recommendations provided inside the course)
• A notebook or digital document for recording observations and evidence
• A way to take screenshots
• Access to the AI Detectives Mission Hub e-portfolio (free, browser-based, no download required)

AI literacy
AI & Technology
AI literacy
AI & Critical Thinking · Foundations

AI Literacy: Building Your Foundation

Before you can outsmart an algorithm, you need to understand how it actually works. This 4-part course builds the core AI literacy skills every young person needs — how AI operates, how to direct it well, how to follow its reasoning, and how to check whether it's right.
4 Hours Ages 11–19 Foundational General Audiences

What You Will Learn

Most people use AI every day without ever learning how it actually works. This course changes that. You'll learn what's really happening behind the chat window, how to write instructions that get you far better results, how to follow an AI's reasoning instead of just accepting its first answer, and how to check whether what it's telling you is actually true.

Think of this as your starting toolkit. Once you've got these four foundations in place, you'll be ready for deeper investigative work — like putting AI on trial yourself in AI Detectives: Can You Outsmart the Algorithm?

By The End, You Will Be Able To

Explain what AI is actually doing behind the tools you use every day
Write clear, precise prompts that get noticeably better results
Follow an AI's reasoning across a conversation, instead of losing track of it
Check and verify AI-generated information before trusting it

Course Hours

1
 AI with Agency
What AI actually is, and how it operates
2
 The Art of Precision Prompting
Getting far better results by asking better questions
3
 Following a Thinking Thread
Staying in control of an AI conversation as it develops
4
 Verifying AI
Checking AI-generated answers before you trust them