AI Without the Hype: Facilitator Guide

Use: Internal guide for rehearsal and facilitator dry runs. It does not authorize public delivery.

Current review needs: learning design, beginner language, privacy and safety, accessibility, a nonauthor cold read, and pilot evidence. This guide remains internal rehearsal material while those reviews are pending.

Module purpose

AI Without the Hype helps learners take a grounded first look at generative AI. Learners see what a chatbot can do, what it cannot establish, what information should stay out of the interaction, and which decisions remain human-owned.

Facilitator stance

Be calm, curious, nonjudgmental, tool-agnostic, and honest about uncertainty. Focus on learner decisions rather than impressive output. It is appropriate to say, “we do not know yet.”

Pre-session checklist

• Confirm an approved tool environment or prepare the backup transcript.
• Print the facilitator-safe task choices and Your First AI Ground Rules, or prepare the optional local notebook.
• Check projector, shared screen, accessibility needs, and timing.
• Do not display learner accounts or credentials publicly.
• Review the current tool interface and date any tool-specific statement.
• Identify an approved feedback method, or state that feedback routing is not yet available.

Room and participation setup

Support individual devices, pairs, shared devices, observation, printed transcripts, voice interaction where appropriate, breaks, and private completion of the learner artifact. Participation is not a typing test.

Safety opening

Read or paraphrase:

Today we will use only fictional, public, sanitized, or ordinary low-risk information. Please do not use medical, legal, financial, employment, client, student, credential, safety, or private family information. You may observe instead of using a tool.

Demonstration

Use the canonical Maple Park source and bounded request, then choose the completed Maple Park example from the Gallery. Ask learners what they expect before showing output. Afterward, return to the three human checks: what was useful, what needs checking, and what remains human-owned.

Common learner questions

Which AI tool is best?

There is no single best tool for every purpose. This module teaches transferable habits; later material can address products, costs, privacy, and fit.

Can I trust the answer?

Treat it as candidate material. The needed level of checking depends on the claim and its consequences.

Is it conscious or alive?

People debate that question, but learners do not need to resolve it to use a tool responsibly. Focus on what it can produce, what it cannot establish, and what people remain responsible for.

Will it take my job?

AI may change tasks and expectations differently across workplaces. Do not make broad predictions here; redirect specific workflow questions to later modules.

Is my conversation private?

Privacy varies by product, account, settings, and connected services. For this practice, sensitive information stays out of the interaction.

What if I do not want to type?

Learners may observe, use a printed transcript, work with a partner, or use voice input where available.

Facilitation risks

Watch for personal information, prompt competitions, overreliance on one impressive result, learner embarrassment, one participant dominating the room, and requests for individualized professional advice.

Redirects

Suggest What AI Is and Is Not, Before You Paste: Privacy and Data Boundaries, Prompting Is the Door, Not the Destination, When the Bot Sounds Right but Is Not, or Becoming an Informed Technology Consumer, based on the learner’s question.

Post-session notes

Record timing, repeated questions, vocabulary problems, safety concerns, accessibility barriers, tool failures, activity confusion, useful examples, proposed changes, and status-governance questions. Do not record private learner prompts or personal details.

Provisional timing for facilitator planning

These inherited estimates are starting points for facilitation, not completion targets for learners. Refine them after observing setup, access needs, discussion, and actual participation.

• Use: Internal rehearsal outline for a 60-minute facilitated session, with an optional 15-minute discussion extension. This is not a public class listing or a final slide deck.
• 1. AI Without the Hype — 3 minutes
• 2. Why this can feel confusing — 4 minutes
• 3. What we mean by generative AI — 5 minutes
• 4. The third option — 3 minutes
• 5. Four grounding ideas — 7 minutes
• 6. What not to use today — 4 minutes
• 7. Demonstration setup — 3 minutes
• 8. Live or recorded demonstration — 5 minutes
• 9. Three human checks — 5 minutes
• 10. Try or observe — 2 minutes
• 11. Learner activity — 12 minutes
• 12. Debrief — 5 minutes
• 13. My First AI Ground Rules — 4 minutes
• 14. Choose the next question — 3 minutes
• Optional discussion extension — 15 minutes
• Module: 35–45 minutes

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Source: modules/ai-without-the-hype/facilitator-guide.md