🧩 AI for Problem Solving
Use AI as a thinking partner — not an answer machine.
🔥 Warm Up — 3 minutes
"AI is often used to get answers. But it is even more valuable for helping you think. Today we use it as a thinking partner."
"The difference: a thinking partner does not give you the answer. It helps you find it."
🤖 The Activity — 20 minutes
Your child picks a real problem they are facing — small or big. School related, personal, creative. Anything genuine.
Answer the questions. This often reveals that the stated problem is not the real problem.
Your child evaluates: which approaches seem promising? Which are impossible? Which had not been considered?
Stress-testing the chosen solution. Ask: did AI find a problem you had not thought of? What do you do with that?
🧩 The Twist — 5 minutes
AI's answer to this is genuinely interesting. Then ask your child: Do you agree? What problems in your life need you — not AI — to solve them?
Using AI as a thinking partner can feel very personal — especially when working on real problems. It is genuinely useful. And it is still a tool. The final decision, the final action, the final responsibility — those are always yours.
Problem Solver Badge 🧩
Used AI as a thinking partner — not an answer machine — to work through a real problem
Parent Notes — tap to expand
▼Problem-solving methodology — decomposing problems, generating options, stress-testing solutions. One of the most transferable skills in the programme.
- Did AI help you see the problem differently?
- What did AI miss that you had to add yourself?
- What problems are better solved without AI at all?
The genuine problem exercise makes this session unusually meaningful. Children often report this as one of their favourite sessions in retrospect.
If your child is working through something emotionally difficult — this technique can be useful but should not replace talking to a real person. AI as thinking partner has limits when feelings are involved.