AI for students · lesson 22 of 24 · free

How a simple AI app works — AI for students

Every AI app has three parts. The input is what you give it — a photo, a typed question, your voice. The model is the trained part that finds the pattern and decides. The output is what comes back — a label like “cat”, a reply or a picture. The model is trained beforehand; each time you use the app, you give the input, the model works on it, and then the output appears. Chatbots come in two kinds: a rule-based chatbot follows if-then rules and fixed replies people wrote, so new wording confuses it; a learning chatbot learned from many examples, so it handles new wording but can make mistakes.

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AI tip

Input → model → output — “what goes in, the trained part that decides, what comes out”

  1. Input = what goes in (a photo, your typed question, your spoken words). Model = the trained part that decides. Output = what comes out (a label, a reply, a translation, a picture). Each request: input → the model works on it → output.
  2. Rule-based chatbot: if-then rules, fixed hand-written replies, matches key words, fails on new wording.
  3. Learning chatbot: learned from examples, handles new wording, builds its own replies, needs lots of data.

Use it for: Understanding any AI app — and planning your own.

Worked example: 💬 Rule-based or learning chatbot: “uses if-then rules”? → rule-based

  1. If-then rules are written by people, one by one.
  2. So it describes a rule-based chatbot.

Check: Try it: write 5 if-then rules for a paper “library helper” chatbot, then test it with a question your rules do not cover ✓

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✏️ Practice

Work it out in your head or on paper, type the answer and press Check. Stuck? Press “Show me how”.

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🏁 Lesson 22 test

20 questions. Check each answer, then go to the next one. Get 16 or more right to pass.

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🖨️ How an AI App Works Worksheet

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