It is one of the fastest-paced topics of our day. It’s difficult to define. It’s here whether we like it or not! It’s disrupting. It’s unsettling. It’s adding to the challenges for young people in finding careers. It can help with lots of practical tasks around writing and researching. It’s increasing the complexity of misinformation and disinformation, and muddying the water around reality and unreality.

But what does it have to do with youth work?

Everything. In the world of youth work, we support young people to thrive, to engage well with the world they live in, to be activists and influencers, to have a voice.

Today, this includes helping them understand and navigate the digital aspects of contemporary life, which increasingly means getting our heads around artificial intelligence (AI), in particular the generative AI (Gen AI), which is influencing the current generation of internet and social media.

This toolkit is designed to be a practical, supportive companion as you help young people explore the world of AI. You don’t need to be a tech expert to use it. The document contains an overview and some key resources. Explore the toolkit for some key principles and some lift-and-use activities.

It was co-designed with The Citadel and Cromar Future Group — youth workers and young people exploring the topics together. Digital Skills Education, Scottish AI Alliance and Sopra Steria all supported the project. The project was funded by the Include Plus Network.