Triangle Truths: What AI Gets Wrong About Our Geometry

Introduction When we use AI to explain math, it often leaves out the culture and everyday knowledge of real communities. This activity shows how special right triangles show up in the lives of students. It also shows how AI can ignore that context, focusing only on textbook versions. Students will see how math is part of their world—and how AI might miss it.

Students create real-life examples of special right triangles from their own world. They ask AI to explain their example and compare the response to what they know is true.

Instructions

  1. Think about a place in your life where you’ve seen a triangle—on a roof, in a piece of art, in farming equipment, or anywhere else.
  2. Sketch or describe a triangle from that place. Try to label the sides and angles if you can.
  3. Figure out if it’s a special right triangle (30-60-90 or 45-45-90).
  4. Go to an AI chatbot like ChatGPT.
  5. Type: “Please explain the math behind this triangle,” and paste your description.
  6. Read the AI’s explanation.
  7. Compare it with what you know from your real-life example.
  8. Write down what the AI got right, what it got wrong, and what it left out.

Conscientization

Reading the world through this activity

  • What did the AI say about your triangle?
  • What parts of your example did it ignore or change?
  • Did the AI assume your triangle came from a classroom, not your community?
  • What does the AI seem to think is “normal” when it comes to math?
  • Whose ways of knowing math are missing from the AI’s explanation?

Praxis

Reflection leading to transformation

  • What could happen if AI keeps ignoring real-life math from your community?
  • How might this affect how your community is seen or valued in school math?
  • What would you want AI creators to learn from your example?
  • How could schools or teachers use AI better—without erasing local knowledge?
  • What can you do to show that math lives in your world, not just in textbooks?

Dialogue

Ongoing discussion

  • Share your real-life triangle and the AI’s explanation with a classmate.
  • What patterns do you see in how AI explains everyone’s examples?
  • Did AI leave out culture or place in other people’s examples too?
  • What do these patterns tell us about who AI is designed for?
  • How else could we use AI to show local math instead of hiding it?
Scroll to Top