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ARKAI Readiness Kollective
AI Fluent · Grades 9-12Module 2

Facilitator guide: AI Ethics & Who Makes the Rules

75 minutesReview status: Being checked
Open the lessonsSlide deck (Google Drive)

Materials

  • Projector.
  • Devices with an AI tool your school allows, or paper for the Step 4 partner version.
  • Printed role cards for the incident-rule hearing.
  • Four corner signs for the trust vote.

Lesson steps

  1. 1. Who answers for the chatbot? (Explainer, 5 min)
  2. 2. Three ways to make rules (Explainer, 7 min)
  3. 3. Why the rules always seem late (Explainer, 7 min)
  4. 4. Write a rule, then break it (Activity, 10 min)
  5. 5. The incident rule (Scenario, 6 min)
  6. 6. Quick check (Quick check, 4 min)
  7. 7. Who should have more say? (Reflect, 5 min)
  8. 8. Recap (Recap, 3 min)

Timing for a 75-minute class

For 60 minutes, cut the face-scan debate. For 90 minutes, run the incident-rule scenario as a full mock hearing.

Minutes What happens Format
0-3 Pre-check Individual
3-10 Step 1: vote on who should pay before the reveal Whole class
10-22 Step 2: fill in the three-approaches table together Whole class
22-32 Step 3: Collingridge examples, then the early-or-late question Pairs
32-47 Step 4 Try it Pairs
47-60 Step 5 incident-rule hearing, with roles: AI lab, the company that was hacked, state regulator, member of the public Groups of four
60-64 Step 6 quick check Individual
64-72 Step 7: ARK’s view, reflect, then the trust corner vote Individual, then whole class
72-75 Step 8 recap and post-check Whole class

Before you start

  • Policy facts in this module change often. Read the Check these notes and update dates before you teach.
  • Keep the focus on how rules work, not on which party is right. When students raise current politics, ask what evidence each side would need. The Kill Switch Act has sponsors from both parties.
  • ARK’s view is an opinion, labeled as one. Invite students to argue with it. No grade depends on agreeing.
  • The Dutch case involved discrimination by nationality. Some students may have families affected by similar systems. Let anyone pass on discussion.

Discussion prompts

Use the deck’s face-scan debate: principal, students, parents, city council. Then ask who should decide, and when.

Answer notes

Quick check: 1 C, 2 D, 3 A, 4 B, 5 B. Pre/post: 1 A, 2 C, 3 B. If learners pick B on quick check question 3, ask whether laws always lag. Point to the EU sandbox: some rules are designed to move early.

Words to know

accountability gap
When harm happens and no one is clearly answerable for it.
liability
Legal responsibility for harm.
risk-based approach
Rules that get stricter as the potential for harm rises.
voluntary commitment
A promise a company makes that no law requires.
Collingridge dilemma
The problem that a technology is easiest to change before its harms are known, and hardest to change after.

Workshop quick checks

Learners can answer these on their own phones with no account. Answers count toward ARK's anonymous totals.