Written for Kids. Surprisingly Useful for Adults.
Teach AI How to Help You
Every time you speak to a new teacher, you do not need to explain your age, school year and learning needs from the beginning. Your teacher already knows you.
You can set up an approved AI assistant in a similar way. You give it useful instructions about how you want to learn, what level you are working at and what it should do when you need help.
This turns a general chatbot into your own AI learning buddy.
Begin With an Approved AI Tool
Children should only use an AI service approved by their school or parent. Do not pretend to be older to create an account. A teacher or parent should check the age rules first.
Once you have an approved tool, look for a place called something like:
Custom Instructions
Personalisation
Profile / Preferences
Project Instructions
Learning Settings
If there is no permanent instruction area, save your instructions in a document and paste them at the beginning of a new conversation.
What Should AI Know About You?
AI does not need your name, address, school or any other private details. It only needs information that will help it teach you.
Your age or school year and the subjects you study
The level of difficulty and what you find easy or difficult
How you like things explained stories, examples, diagrams or quizzes
That it should check your understanding and not give you answers immediately
The aim is to tell AI how to help you learn, not to tell it everything about your life.
The AI Learning Buddy Setup
You could use instructions like these to get started:
"You are my AI learning buddy. I am 10 years old and study in Year 5 using the British curriculum. Help me understand things rather than simply completing my work. Use clear language suitable for my age, but do not make everything too easy.
When I ask for help with homework, begin by asking what I already understand. Guide me one step at a time. Give me a clue if I am stuck, but do not give me the final answer until I have attempted it.
Use examples connected to real life. I enjoy football, space, technology and business. After explaining something, ask me a short question to check my understanding. Use British English. Never ask me for private information."
You can change these instructions to match your age, interests and learning needs.
Choose the Right Personality
Your AI learning buddy does not need to feel like a machine. You can give it a name and decide how it should communicate.
🥭 Professor Mango
"You are friendly, curious and encouraging. You speak to me like a brilliant teacher who wants me to think for myself. You can be funny, but learning always comes first."
🌟 Miss Nova
"You are a patient science and maths tutor. Ask me questions and help me discover answers for myself."
A name can make the experience more enjoyable, but remember: the AI is still technology. It is not a real teacher, friend or person.
Test Your Learning Buddy
After setting it up, do not assume it will work perfectly. Test it with a simple question:
What is 36 divided by 4? If it immediately gives you the answer, remind it:
Do not give me the answer. Ask me a question that will help me work it out.
Then improve your main instructions so the same problem is less likely to happen again.
Setting up an AI assistant is an experiment. You test it, notice what works and change the instructions.
What Makes a Good Prompt?
A prompt is the instruction you give to AI. A useful prompt usually explains four things:
The Goal
What do you want to achieve?
The Context
What does AI need to know about the task?
The Method
How do you want it to help?
The Result
What should the final response look like?
"Help me understand why volcanoes erupt. I know that magma is involved, but I do not understand what causes the pressure. Explain it using a bottle of fizzy drink, then ask me three questions. Do not make the questions multiple choice."
Weak Prompt vs Stronger Prompt
❌ Weak Prompts
"Help me with maths."
AI does not know the topic, the difficulty or what sort of help you need.
"Write my story."
AI does not know the characters, the setting or what you want to create.
✅ Stronger Prompts
"I am learning long division. I understand the first step, but I become confused when there is a remainder. Show me one example, then give me a different question to try myself. Do not tell me the answer until I have attempted it."
"I am writing a mystery story set inside a museum at night. Ask me five questions that will help me develop the main character, the mystery and the ending. Do not write the story for me."
The stronger prompts make the pupil responsible for the thinking.
Tell AI What Not to Do
Good instructions explain the boundaries as well as the task. You can also ask AI to adapt to you during the conversation.
Useful Boundaries
Do not give me the final answer.
Do not rewrite my entire paragraph.
Do not move to the next step until I respond.
Do not use words you have not explained.
Do not create facts or sources.
Do not agree with every idea I suggest.
Ask AI to Adapt to You
"Begin with a question suitable for my year. If I answer correctly, make it harder. If I answer incorrectly, give me a clue."
"Keep a list of the words I spell incorrectly. At the end, test me again using only those words."
"Notice which multiplication questions I find difficult and give me extra practice on those."
The CLEAR Prompt Check
Before sending an important prompt, make it CLEAR:
C: Choose your goal
What are you trying to learn, create or improve?
L : List the context
What does AI need to know about the task?
E: Explain how you want help
Should AI teach, question, coach or give feedback?
A: Add boundaries
What should AI avoid doing?
R: Request the result
Do you want a quiz, explanation, checklist or conversation?
🤖 Fun AI Learning Buddy Facts
AI does not get tired
You can ask AI the same question ten different ways and it will never get frustrated with you.
AI can be wrong
AI sometimes makes mistakes or creates false facts. Always check important information using a trusted source.
Better instructions = better answers
The more clearly you explain what you need, the more useful the AI's response will be.
AI does not remember you
Most AI tools start fresh every conversation, which is why saving your instructions is important.
You are in charge
You guide the conversation. A good AI user improves and adjusts the chat as it goes.
AI Learning Buddy Quiz
Test Your Knowledge
Why should you set up an AI learning buddy?
What personal information does AI actually need from you?
What should a tutor AI do before giving you the answer?
What can you do if an AI explanation is too difficult?
What does the A in CLEAR stand for?
Which is the stronger prompt: "Help me with maths" or a detailed, specific request?
Why does it make a difference?
🎯 Kids AI Captain Challenge
Create a set of AI learning buddy instructions for your whole class!
Write instructions that explain how old pupils are and what subjects they study
Describe how AI should explain things and what to do when someone is stuck
Include what AI should never do and how it should check understanding
Test the instructions using one maths question, one writing task and one science topic
Record what worked, what did not work and what you changed
Quiz Answers
Answer 1
So it understands how you want to learn
Answer 2
Only general learning information such as your school year and interests
Answer 3
Help you think and attempt it yourself
Answer 4
Ask it to explain the idea differently
Answer 5
Add boundaries
Answer 6
The detailed prompt because AI knows the topic, the difficulty, the type of help and what not to do
📘 Quick Summary
Set up your buddy
Give an approved AI tool instructions about your age, subjects, interests and how you like to learn.
Keep private info private
AI only needs general learning information never your name, address or passwords.
Write CLEAR prompts
Choose a goal, list context, explain the method, add boundaries and request the result.
Tell AI what not to do
Good instructions include boundaries so AI supports your thinking instead of doing the work for you.
Test and improve
Your AI learning buddy gets better every time you notice what went wrong and update your instructions.
AI Learning Dictionary
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
A computer programme that can understand language and respond in a helpful way
Prompt
The instruction or question you type to tell AI what you want
Chatbot
A computer programme you can have a text conversation with
Custom Instructions
A saved set of rules that tell AI how to behave in every conversation
Context
Background information that helps AI understand what you need
Boundary
A rule that tells AI what it should NOT do
CLEAR
A five-step prompt checklist: Choose, List, Explain, Add boundaries, Request
Personalisation
Changing how AI behaves to suit your own learning style
Feedback
Helpful comments from AI about your work that help you improve
Trusted Source
A reliable website or book you can use to check facts that AI has given you
You are now an AI Learning Buddy expert!
A good prompt tells AI what you want to achieve, how you want it to help and what it should leave for you to do. Keep testing, keep improving, and stay in charge of your learning! 💪🤖
Build Your AI Learning Buddy