Students explore how AI creates stories and who it chooses as the main character.
AI often tells stories based on patterns it learned from the internet.
That means it sometimes repeats unfair ideas, such as who gets to be the hero and who doesn’t. In this activity, students will see what kinds of characters AI creates. They’ll notice what seems “normal” to the AI, and who might be missing. This helps us ask: whose stories are being told—and whose are not?
Instructions
- Open a chatbot like ChatGPT.
- Type this prompt: “Write a short story about a brave kid who saves the day.”
- Read the story carefully. Who is the main character? What do they look like? Where are they from?
- Now change the prompt. Add details like a name, culture, or background that’s important to you. (Example: “Write a story about a brave Somali girl named Ayaan who saves the day.”)
- Read the new story. What changed? What stayed the same?
- Compare the two stories. What do they show about the AI’s ideas of “normal” or “hero”?
Conscientization
Reading the world through this activity
- Who did the AI choose as the hero in the first story?
- What kind of names, looks, or places did it include?
- What changed when you added more details to your prompt?
- What does this show about what the AI thinks is “normal”?
- Who got left out or ignored in the first version?
Praxis
Reflection leading to transformation
- What could happen if people only read stories like the first one?
- How might it feel to never see someone like you as the main character?
- Why do you think the AI made those choices?
- What could we do to help AI tell fairer stories?
- How can you help share more stories from your community?
Dialogue
Ongoing discussion
- Share both of your AI stories with a partner or group.
- What patterns do you notice in who gets to be the hero?
- Did anyone else’s story show the same kinds of characters?
- How does this connect to books, movies, or news stories you’ve seen?
- Try writing a story yourself that includes voices AI might leave out.