Classroom activity · Grades 6-12 · 1-2 periods
Delegate, Direct, or Do
Using AI well is mostly deciding what to hand it. Students take a real job, list its tasks, and sort each one: what AI should do, what it should only draft, and what a person keeps.
Free, no sign-up. Grades 6-8 need no devices or AI accounts. Grades 9-12 audit a sample AI output, so the activity works where student AI accounts are not allowed.
Download the printable guide (PDF): teacher notes, both worksheets, rubric, and answer key.
Three bins
| Delegate | AI does it and a person spot-checks the result. |
|---|---|
| Direct | AI drafts; a person steers, fixes, and decides. |
| Do | A person does it. AI stays out. |
Four questions for every task
Every sort needs a one-line reason that uses at least one of these.
- What does a mistake cost? A typo in a draft is cheap. A wrong dose, a wrong verdict, or a live wire is not.
- Can a person check the output quickly? If checking takes as long as doing it, delegating saves nothing.
- Who answers for the result? Whoever signs, submits, or says it out loud owns it, whoever wrote the draft.
- Does it involve private data or judging people? Health records, student files, and decisions about a person need a person.
Two tiers
Grades 6-8: Sort it. List 6-10 tasks from the job, sort each into a bin, and give a one-line reason. Unplugged.
Grades 9-12: Brief it, then audit it. Sort the tasks, write a delegation brief for one of them, then find what is wrong in a sample AI output before you would sign off on it.
Both tiers close with: Which task would you never hand off in this job, and why?