Large-scale creative experience for 350 teenagers, to raise awareness of the challenges of Artificial Intelligence, and equip them for critical thinking.
Project stakes and shape
The Forum des images, as part of its digital school for teenagers Tumo Paris, asked Benoît Labourdette to set up a vast operation to raise awareness of the challenges of Artificial Intelligence, as part of a project supported by the Salesforce Foundation.
How do you give 350 to 500 young people an experience through which they can develop their own thinking and critical thinking skills, over a short period of time, as part of an event? Organize a festival, screenings and debates? Perhaps that wasn’t the most effective approach. In line with the objective, I proposed that we organize a vast collective workshop to create films in collaboration with artificial intelligences, on the subject of the challenges of artificial intelligence, ending with a screening of the films made by the teenagers, followed by a collective discussion. In this way, their personal reflections will be developed through experimentation, which will also enable them to acquire new skills.
Building collective experience
To build this collective experience, which was embodied in 8 sessions in the cinema with an average of 70 people per session, we had to set up the technical procedure (using participants’ phones or tablets, making sure the Wifi connection worked properly, etc.) very carefully so that there would be no bugs during the workshop. Then we designed and tested the pedagogical process with a group of adults, followed by several brainstorming sessions to refine it, and finally came up with a solid, fun, enjoyable and enriching proposal for the participants.
Careful rehearsal and minute-by-minute precision are key to creating a proposal that works, and to having the flexibility to adapt to unforeseen circumstances.
I also worked in advance with the Tumo school leaders, who were present before and during the workshops, so that we could agree on the methods, values and ways of supporting the young people.
Facilitation method, workshop proceedings and assessment
After our tests, we decided to ask participants to pair up as they entered the room, and install the Poe (AI aggregator) and Capcut (video editing) applications. If you don’t have a working phone, you can borrow a tablet. We also have a large number of external batteries for phones, to avoid breakdowns.
At the entrance, I greet each person and ask for their first name, in order to establish a relationship of trust and openness.
On the screen, I display images, a mindmap that I draw up as I go along, and a live recording of my cell phone in front of me, to give a very concrete accompaniment to the technical stages. The time rule for each step, with the counter on the screen, sets the pace for the session.
I’ll start by explaining how the workshop will work, so that participants can take responsibility. The aim is to make a film in pairs, which will then be put online, projected and discussed collectively.
Then I give an illustrated five-minute history of artificial intelligence!
I propose two “ice-breaking” moments of collective intelligence, to build collective energy:
- I ask a list of slightly impertinent questions about Artificial Intelligence, the instruction being to stand up if the answer is yes and to remain seated if it’s no. There’s some laughter, it’s fun. There’s some laughter, it’s fun.
- I invite them to dialogue, in their pairs, taking it in turns to explain to each other, in one minute, the advantages and then the risks of Artificial Intelligence.
The atmosphere is friendly. I demonstrate the whole filmmaking process on my phone, which they can see on the screen, right up to exporting the film and putting it online themselves in a cloud I’ve opened for them, accessible without registration thanks to a QR Code (which they can access after the session to review and download their films and those of others).
I write the elements of the script on the screen in a mindmap that will help structure the project. It’s not a pre-existing document; I write it in front of them, and it can be a little different for each session.
We start screenwriting. First, I give them a demonstration on my phone.
Then they have 15 minutes to write in collaboration with Artificial Intelligences. I invite them to engage in dialogue and complementarity, to identify what AI can contribute and not what it replaces.
Then we move on to creating still images. I demonstrate.
They also have 15 minutes to create the 3 or 4 still images that will form the main scenes of their film.
Finally, we come to the video editing stage, where I give them a practical demonstration.
They now have 20 minutes to complete their video editing, animating still images using AIs integrated into the Capcut application, and soundtracking their films with their own voices or synthesized voices, music, sound effects and so on.
After that, they put their films online independently. One by one, they appear on the screen.
And finally, we switch off the lights, and it’s time for the projection!
After the screening, the debates were sometimes heated, and the teenagers’ points of view on Artificial Intelligences diverged. Almost all of them have learned a great deal, and above all have managed to achieve, in a short space of time, something they didn’t feel capable of when they arrived. They leave equipped, technically, methodologically and conceptually!
Do it yourself
To give you a hands-on experience after the workshop, we’ve created a tutorial that lets you make a film using the same method, following the steps in a concrete way.
