AI Applications
Senior 2 · ICT
AI Applications
Lesson 2 of 4
25 min
Chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot can draft an essay plan, rewrite a paragraph more simply, summarise notes or suggest slides for a presentation in seconds. Used well, they help you learn faster. Used badly, they produce confident mistakes that end up in your homework under your name. This lesson shows you how to get useful help and how to check it.
These chatbots run on large language models (LLMs): AI models trained on enormous amounts of text. Given some words, an LLM predicts a likely next word, adds it, and repeats, very quickly. That is how it produces fluent sentences on almost any topic. Because it makes new content, it is an example of generative AI.
Worked example
Given "The capital city of Rwanda is", the most likely next word is "Kigali", so the model writes "Kigali", which is correct. Given "The famous 1987 book about Lake Kivu by Dr", the model will still produce a likely-sounding name and title, even if no such book exists. It predicts plausible words; it does not look facts up unless the tool is connected to a search engine.
A false or misleading statement that an AI presents as fact is called a hallucination. Invented quotations, wrong statistics, and references to books or web pages that do not exist are common examples.
A prompt is the instruction you give an AI tool. Clear prompts get useful answers. A strong prompt has four parts:
Worked example
Weak: write about Lake Kivu
Strong: You are helping an S2 student in Rwanda (role). Write a paragraph for a class poster (task) explaining three ways Lake Kivu supports Rwanda's economy: fishing, methane gas for electricity, and tourism (context). Use simple English, no more than 100 words, and end with one question for readers (format).
The weak prompt could return anything from geology to a poem. The strong one fixes the audience, the content and the length, so the result needs far less fixing.
Presentation tools and chatbots can turn a topic into a slide outline, or even into finished slides. The same checking applies.
Worked example
Ishimwe asks a chatbot for "5 slides on network devices for S2". It returns this outline:
Checking it against his notes on network devices shows that slide 2 is wrong: a hub copies data out of every port, and sending data only to the destination is what a switch does. Ishimwe corrects the slide before presenting. The AI saved him time on the structure, but only his checking made it right.
Good slide design, whoever made the first draft: one main idea per slide; no more than about six short bullet points; large, readable text; a picture only when it helps, with its credit; and speaker notes for what you will actually say.
Using AI to understand (explain a topic, quiz you, suggest a structure) builds your skills. Using it to replace your work, by handing in AI text as your own, is plagiarism: it teaches you nothing, and you will sit the national exam without it. AI tools also set age limits, often 13 and sometimes 18, and some need a parent's permission for under-18s, so check before signing up.
Tip
R-T-C-F for prompts: Role, Task, Context, Format. And remember: an AI answer is a first draft, never the final answer. If you cannot check a fact, leave it out.
Improve this prompt: "make slides about Zipline".
Solution (one good answer): "You are helping an S2 ICT student in Rwanda (role). Suggest a 5-slide outline (task) on how Zipline drones deliver blood to hospitals in Rwanda, for a 3-minute class talk (context). For each slide give a title and at most 4 short bullet points, and mark any fact I should double-check (format)."
An AI summary says: "Rwanda's national fibre-optic backbone is about 500 km long." Is it correct?
Solution: No. The backbone is more than 3,000 km long (see the lesson on network media). The AI hallucinated or used poor data, so correct the figure and cite a checked source.
Which parts of R-T-C-F are missing from "Explain photosynthesis in 5 bullet points"?
Solution: The task (explain photosynthesis) and the format (5 bullet points) are there. The role and the context are missing, for example "for an S2 student in Rwanda revising for a test".
An AI-made slide has 12 bullet points in small print. Suggest two improvements.
Solution: Any two of: cut it to the 4–6 key points; split it across two or three slides; make the text larger; move the details into the speaker notes.
Summary
Sources and credits
The R-T-C-F prompt framework, the worked examples and the practice items were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
