AI Letter Detective is a fun, interactive way to show the basics of how AI works. It works best after reading information pieces on how AI works - I used Cutting-Edge Technology: Artificial Intelligence by Betsy Rathburn on Epic Books to give students a bit more background. Before we started the book, we reviewed the concept of algorithms by discussing all the library algorithms (entry procedures, lesson procedures versus checkout procedures, checking in and out books for example).
When we were playing the game, we also talked about our language algorithms and how we have some ways to understand what word or letters might come next. I also highlighted the word “statistics” in the game instructions and provided the definition of “math that helps us guess what is likely to happen.” This reinforced the idea that AI guesses - which is mentioned in the book, and is a word that is used in at least one of the answers.
Overall, this has been a hit in the library, and had kids asking to play it after checkout for weeks after it was introduced.
Click here to play a kid-favorite message discovery game! AI Letter Detective