If you've never used an AI chatbot before, this section gets you from zero to ready. If you already chat with an AI regularly, skim the last three bullets and move on.
If you're a kid reading this on your own: that's great, but this next part needs a grown-up. Go find one now and show them this page — the account has to be theirs, not yours.
What it is. An AI chat assistant is a website or app where you type a message and a computer program writes back, like texting with a very well-read helper. There's nothing to install beyond an ordinary app, nothing technical to configure, and you can't break anything by typing the wrong thing.
Getting one (free). Any of these works for this whole course — pick whichever you like:
Open one in your web browser (or install its official app from your phone's app store) and create a free account. The free version is enough for these courses — you do not need a paid plan. You'll need an email address, and some services ask for a phone number just to confirm you're a real person, not a bot.
If a young learner is involved, this has to be your account, not theirs. AI providers set their own minimum ages for account holders — commonly 13, though Claude requires 18 — so if you're reading this to set your child up, stop here and create the account yourself, as the adult, before going any further. Run every session under your own account, stay present, and read the replies alongside your learner.
Your first chat. There's a message box at the bottom of the screen. Type anything ("Hello — I'm brand new to this. What can you do?"), press Enter or the send arrow, and it replies in a few seconds. You reply back in the same window. That whole back-and-forth is called a chat or conversation. A message you send it — especially a prepared one — is called a prompt. That's all the vocabulary you need.
How this guide uses it. Wherever you see a box labelled ">> PASTE THIS TO YOUR AI TUTOR", copy the text inside the box (not the box itself, and not the ">>" label), paste it into the message box, and send it. The AI takes it from there, and you just respond naturally.
Replace every [BRACKET], every time. Anything in [square brackets] — like [your country/region] or [my chosen song] — is a blank for you to fill in before sending, in every prompt that has one, not just the first.
Start a new chat each week. Use the "new chat" button (usually top-left) at the start of each weekly session. The tutor will not remember previous weeks — that's expected and fine: each week's launch prompt re-briefs it completely. If a prompt refers to earlier work (a log, a list, last week's results), paste that in along with the prompt.
If it stops replying mid-session. Free accounts have usage limits, and you may see a message asking you to wait a few hours. Nothing is broken and nothing is lost. You can wait and pick up where you left off, or paste the week's launch prompt into a different assistant from the list above and continue there.
The AI can't see or hear you. When a session involves something physical — playing, cooking, drawing, moving — the AI only knows what you tell it. Type a short, honest description of what happened ("the sauce split when I added the second spoonful") and it can coach from that. Most apps also have an optional voice mode (a microphone button), which is handy when your hands are busy.
The AI can be confidently wrong. These assistants are genuinely helpful and sometimes state false things with complete confidence. If an answer seems odd, ask "are you sure? double-check that" — or verify it in another source. Never rely on the AI alone for anything involving safety: cooking temperatures, tools, electricity, medical or first-aid facts — confirm safety-critical claims with official local guidance.
Privacy. Chats may be stored by the AI provider, so treat them like messages to a stranger: don't paste your address, ID numbers, health details, or anything you'd rather keep private. Nothing in these courses requires personal information beyond your region (for units and local examples).