Meet Your AI Sidekick

Welcome, future AI engineer. 👋

A useful helper starts with clear instructions and checked answers. In this chapter, a child and an adult will make a practice quiz from fictional notes, catch an unsupported answer, and save a reusable prompt.

The complete activity works with this page and paper alone. Read or print the sample cards below; no child or provider account is required. An external assistant is an optional comparison, operated by the adult.

What is an "AI sidekick", really?

Many chatbots use a large language model, or LLM: a program trained on large collections of material that generates text by predicting pieces of text from learned patterns. It can explain, create and transform writing.

The model generates text; some assistant products can also use search or other tools to retrieve information. Check their sources and results too. Neither a fluent answer nor a search result guarantees that a claim is correct. An invented or unsupported claim presented as fact is often called a hallucination.

A prompt is an instruction for a task. Choosing its words carefully is called prompt engineering. Clear instructions help specify the result you want; they do not remove the need to check it.

Before you start

All responses and examples on this page are authored teaching examples, not results obtained from an AI service. Pip, its gardens and its commands are imaginary; nothing connects to a physical robot.

Step 1 — Read the fictional fact cards

The adult reads; the child sketches Pip and labels its two destinations. Keep these cards beside the quiz. These are the only facts needed for the activity.

Card A: Pip is an imaginary paper robot carrying six paper seeds.
Card B: Moon garden uses a blue tray. Sun garden uses a yellow tray.
Card C: Pip visits the workshop, then Moon garden, then Sun garden.
Card D: Moon garden receives two paper seeds. Sun garden receives four paper seeds.
Card E: Pause stops Pip's imaginary wheels; Go starts them.

Expected result: the child can point to Moon garden's tray color in Card B and the order of places in Card C. If a detail is missing, say, "The cards do not say," instead of filling it in.

Step 2 — Try three kinds of instructions

Read each prompt and its authored response. On paper, circle the instruction that controls the response. For an optional comparison, the adult sends a prompt together with the cards; the child checks the returned text against them.

1. Explain: Using Card E, explain Pause in one short sentence. Authored response: "Pause stops Pip's imaginary wheels."
2. Create: Write a two-line imaginary rhyme about Pip. This is a story, not a fact report. Authored response: "Pip takes seeds along the way. / Paper gardens bloom in play."
3. Transform: Rewrite Card C as a numbered list of three places, in order. Authored response: "1. Workshop. 2. Moon garden. 3. Sun garden."

Expected result: the explanation uses Card E, the list keeps Card C's order, and the rhyme is labeled imaginary. Creative details belong in the story, not in answers claimed to come from the fact cards.

Step 3 — Catch an unsupported answer

Question: What color are Pip's wheels?

Deliberately unsupported authored answer: "Pip's wheels are green."

The child checks all five cards. Card B names tray colors; Card E describes wheel commands. No card gives a wheel color. Cross out "green" and replace the answer with "The cards do not say." This does not prove the wheels are a different color; it shows that the answer has no support in these notes.

For an optional comparison, the adult asks the same question with the cards and the instruction Use only these notes. Say "The cards do not say" if the answer is missing. Check the result even if it sounds confident.

Project — Build your Notes → Quiz helper 🛠️

The child answers and chooses improvements. The adult prepares the quiz sheet, holds the key, and operates any optional external assistant.

1. Copy the Quiz below onto a separate sheet, without its answer key, or cover the key on this page. The child answers using Cards A–E.
2. After the attempt, uncover the Answer key. Check every answer together and write its supporting card letter beside it. Correct mistakes from the cards; the goal is a checked quiz, not a perfect first attempt.
3. Save the following prompt and Cards A–E on paper or in a local notes file titled My Helpers — Notes → Quiz v1. On paper, check that the supplied quiz meets its five-question, mixed-format instructions.

Saved reusable prompt

Make a five-question practice quiz using only the fictional notes I supply.
Mix multiple-choice, short-answer and true/false questions.
Every question must be answerable from those notes.
For this first response, show questions only. Do not include answers or an
answer key. Wait for the exact follow-up: "Show the answer key with card letters."
Then give each answer and quote the supporting card.
If a requested detail is missing, say "The cards do not say" rather than inventing it.

NOTES: [Copy Cards A–E here, or replace them with other invented fact cards.]

Optional adult-operated comparison: the adult sends that prompt with the actual Cards A–E in place of the bracketed placeholder. It should return five questions without answers. The child tries them on paper. Only afterward does the adult send Show the answer key with card letters. Together, check the questions and key against the cards. A response can differ from our example; unsupported questions or incorrect answers need correction, not acceptance.

Quiz — authored paper example

1. Multiple choice. Which tray does Moon garden use? A) Yellow tray. B) Blue tray. C) Red tray.
2. Short answer. How many paper seeds does Sun garden receive?
3. Multiple choice. Where does Pip go immediately after the workshop? A) Moon garden. B) Sun garden. C) Back to the workshop.
4. Short answer. How many paper seeds is Pip carrying at the start?
5. True or false. Pause stops Pip's imaginary wheels.

Answer key — open after your attempt

This key is a separate authored example for the adult to cover or keep on a second sheet. It is not part of the saved prompt's first response.

1. B — blue tray. Card B says: "Moon garden uses a blue tray."
2. Four paper seeds. Card D says: "Sun garden receives four paper seeds."
3. A — Moon garden. Card C says: "Pip visits the workshop, then Moon garden, then Sun garden."
4. Six paper seeds. Card A says: "Pip is an imaginary paper robot carrying six paper seeds."
5. True. Card E says: "Pause stops Pip's imaginary wheels; Go starts them."

What you learned

• An LLM generates text; some assistant products also use search or tools.
• A prompt specifies a task, source and format; checking remains your job.
• An unsupported claim needs evidence or an honest "The cards do not say."
• A saved prompt plus fictional notes is a reusable helper.

Finished result: one answered quiz with five checked card references, the corrected unsupported wheel-color answer, and a saved helper with its cards and one improvement. That completes the First Contact badge activity. 🏅

Next up: context, format and examples in Chapter 2: Prompt Engineering Basics.