How generative AI works
A plain-language explanation of training, prediction and why confident answers can still be wrong.
AI literacy and safety · Ireland
AI workshops for students and educators.
Practical sessions that move beyond hype and fear. Students, staff and parents learn what generative AI can do, where it fails, what it changes and how to use it with more judgment.
Workshop content / 01
Know what AI is doing before deciding when to trust it.
Young people are already using AI to learn, create, search, talk and make decisions. The useful question is not whether AI is simply “good” or “bad”, but how to use it without outsourcing judgment.
Schoolwork and learning
The difference between support and substitution, and how to use AI without losing the thinking that builds understanding.
Checking AI answers
Hallucinations, missing context, unreliable citations and simple habits for verifying important claims.
Privacy and personal data
What should not be entered into an AI system and why sensitive information can create lasting risks.
Bias, images and deepfakes
How AI can reproduce bias, generate convincing false material and make visual evidence harder to judge.
Chatbots and emotional reliance
Why an AI can feel understanding, where its limits are and when a person—not a system—is needed.
Outcomes / 02
Use AI as a tool without handing over the thinking.
- Explain in simple terms why generative AI produces plausible rather than guaranteed answers.
- Choose when AI can support learning and when independent work matters more.
- Check claims, sources and generated media before relying on or sharing them.
- Protect personal, school and third-party information when using AI tools.
- Recognise when chatbot use is becoming overly private, persuasive or emotionally important.
Led by Darren Bracken, drawing on senior platform-safety experience at TikTok and Meta and more than 17 years volunteering with young people.
Formats / 03
One subject. Different responsibilities.
The core ideas remain consistent, but the decisions students, staff and parents need to make are different. Each session is designed around that audience’s role.
Students
Interactive AI literacy, safer use, schoolwork, verification, privacy and practical decision-making.
Educators
What AI changes for learning, assessment and safeguarding—and how to respond consistently without pretending it can be banned away.
Parents
What young people are using, the questions worth asking and how to set boundaries while keeping communication open.
Questions / 04
What schools usually ask.
Is this a technical coding workshop?
No. It is an AI literacy and safety session. The focus is understanding how AI behaves, evaluating its output and making better decisions when using it.
Can it address academic integrity?
Yes. The session can explore the line between assistance and substitution, how AI affects learning and how schools can use clear, realistic expectations.
Is it suitable for primary-school students?
Yes, where appropriate. Examples, language and activities are adapted to the age of the group, with the greatest depth available for ages 12–17.
Can we combine student and staff sessions?
Yes. A coordinated visit can include student workshops, educator training and a parent session so the whole school community has shared language.
Can the content reflect our school’s current concerns?
Yes. Waypoint can begin with a conversation about your challenges and design a bespoke session around the tools, incidents or questions your school is facing.
Next step / 05
Give your school a clearer way to talk about AI.
Choose an existing student, educator or parent session—or tell us what your school is trying to solve.
Book a conversation