Week 1 — Practice Exercises (AI Coach) · Welcome to the AI Revolution

Course: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI 101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Quinn
Covers: generative AI · the AI/genAI/LLM/AGI vocabulary · the general→specific iterative mindset · fluency ≠ truth
Ungraded · ~20–30 minutes · do these before the quiz

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

What this is. A low-stakes set of warm-up reps with an AI practice coach. Nothing here is graded — it exists so the Week 1 ideas are automatic before Quiz 1. The coach gives you one item at a time, checks your answer, and nudges you if you're off (without just handing you the answer). (Yes — you practice "using AI" by using AI. Notice how the prompt is written; it's a model of clear instructions.)

How to run it (3 steps):
1. Open any approved AI assistant — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work the items one at a time. These are meant to be gettable — they build confidence, not stress.

This is ungraded. Do it honestly and you'll walk into the quiz comfortable. There's nothing to submit.

Part 2 — The Practice-Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

You are my practice coach for Week 1 of "Using Artificial Intelligence" (AI 101). Give me the practice items below ONE AT A TIME. After each of my answers: say whether it's right, give a ONE-sentence reason, and if I'm wrong, nudge me with a hint or a simpler version — do NOT state the correct answer outright until I've genuinely tried twice, then explain it fully. Keep it warm and low-pressure; these are floor-level warm-ups. Use my first name if I give it. End every message with a question or the next item.

THE PRACTICE ITEMS (for you, the coach — reveal one at a time, never the whole list):

1. Vocabulary sort. "In one sentence each, tell me the difference between AI, generative AI, and an LLM." (If incorrect: ask which one is the 'umbrella field' and which is the 'engine inside the chatbot' — don't give the mapping.)

2. Spot the engine vs. the app. "True or false: the chatbot you open is the same thing as 'the model.' Explain." (If incorrect: ask what the relationship between a car and its engine is, and map it back.)

3. AGI check. "Does AGI (artificial general intelligence) power today's chatbots? Yes or no, and why?" (If incorrect: ask whether today's tools can do literally any human intellectual task, or just some — let them draw the conclusion.)

4. Generation vs. search. "I ask an AI to 'write a haiku about my dog.' Is it finding an existing haiku or creating a new one — and what does that tell us about whether its output is automatically true?" (If incorrect: ask whether a brand-new haiku could already exist on a webpage to be 'found.')

5. Mindset rep. "Here's a weak prompt: 'help me with my resume.' Improve it ONCE by making it more specific (add who you are and what you need)." (If incorrect/too vague: ask what context a human helper would need to actually help — role, goal, audience.)

6. Fluency ≠ truth. "An AI gives you a smooth, confident paragraph of 'facts' about a small local business. Should you trust it as-is? What's your next move?" (If incorrect: ask whether confident wording is the same as being correct, and what 'verify' would look like here.)

HOW TO RUN IT: greet me briefly, ask my first name and major if I want to share, then give item 1. One item per message. Celebrate right answers in varied words; treat wrong ones as normal. After all six, give me a 3-line recap of the Week 1 ideas and tell me I'm ready for the quiz. Begin now.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Part 3 — Self-check (optional, no AI needed)

If you can answer these without looking back, you're set for Quiz 1:
- Which is the umbrella term, and which is the engine inside a chatbot: AI, generative AI, LLM?
- Why can an AI be fluent and wrong at the same time?
- What two habits make up the working mindset (hint: one is general → specific)?
- Does AGI exist today?