How a Chatbot Picks Its Next Word · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

One likely word after another

Computing · Artificial Intelligence · ages 12-13
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Where do the chatbot patterns come from?

    • Rules a person typed in for every question
    • Patterns taken from a very large amount of text
    • Guesses made up this morning

  2. What does a chatbot do when it answers you?

    • Picks one likely word at a time and feeds each back in
    • Looks the answer up in a fact book
    • Asks a person to type every word

  3. A chatbot understands what it says the way a person does.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. You ask the same question twice and get two different answers. Why?

    • Each word pick leaves room for chance
    • The second answer deletes the first
    • The chatbot forgot its training

  5. You ask for the end of The cat sat on the. It answers mat. What did it most likely just do?

    • Found the only true ending in a rule book
    • Measured your cat
    • Picked a likely next word from patterns

  6. A chatbot gives you a confident date for a history essay. What is the smart move?

    • Copy it at once, confidence proves truth
    • Double-check it in a book or trusted source
    • Ask for a longer confident paragraph

  7. Which job fits a chatbot well, and which needs extra care?

    • Drafting wordings fits well, while important facts need checking
    • Important facts fit well, while drafting needs checking
    • Both are equally safe with no checks

  8. A friend says the chatbot looked up the answer and therefore it must be right. What are the two mistakes?

    • It only answers twice, and twice is too few
    • It never answers, and looking up is illegal
    • It picks likely words instead of looking up, and likely words can be wrong
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_1Zbhamhzai-s1

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

One likely word after another W1-mt_1Zbhamhzai-s1

  1. Patterns taken from a very large amount of text · Reading vast text taught it which words tend to follow which.
  2. Picks one likely word at a time and feeds each back in · Answering is a loop of picking a likely next word and continuing.
  3. False · It follows word patterns without human understanding of the meaning.
  4. Each word pick leaves room for chance · Chance at each pick lets two runs branch into different wordings.
  5. Picked a likely next word from patterns · Mat is a common follower of that line, so the pattern loop picks it.
  6. Double-check it in a book or trusted source · Confident wording can still be wrong, since the loop picks likely words, not checked facts.
  7. Drafting wordings fits well, while important facts need checking · It is a language tool, so wording is its strength and facts are its weakness.
  8. It picks likely words instead of looking up, and likely words can be wrong · No lookup happens, and the word loop can produce smooth but false text.
Worksheet · LightMySky