Three Tools for Teaching About AI

AI Insights for Education
Written By Jussi Koivisto

AI is everywhere and in everything, from the chatbots to social media. But when it comes to learning AI, there are two very different paths:

  • Learning to use AI → How to work with AI tools (writing prompts for chatbots and image generators).

  • Learning about AI → Understanding what AI is, how it works, and how it affects society.

The first is about doing. The second is about knowing. While most people focus on the doing, true competence with AI requires both. Without understanding where AI comes from, how it works, and what it means for our lives, we risk becoming passive users instead of informed thinkers.

So, how can classrooms bring the knowing part of AI learning to life? Here are three engaging tools designed to do just that.

Teachers discussing about AI

Learning about AI involves understanding its impact on our everyday lives. To teach AI literacy effectively, teachers require much more training, practical tools, and resources than they have now..

1. Google Teachable Machine

What it is: A free, no-code tool where students can quickly train AI models to recognize images, sounds, or poses. It’s a beginner-friendly way to see machine learning in action. Students can upload data, train a model, and instantly test how it works.

Limitations: To build real apps, you’ll need coding skills. The tool also has privacy concerns (Google Analytics tracking). Itäs not ideal for project-based learning or integration of different school subjets.

Best for: Quick introductions to fundamental AI concepts.

2. GenAI Teachable Machine

What it is: A classroom-ready evolution of Google’s tool, built for complete, no-code AI app development. Students can train AI models and make them respond to real-world inputs (like sensors or cameras). This tool is built with privacy in mind as it’s fully GDPR-compliant.

Best for: Group projects and schools that want students to design and develop real world applications of AI, all without writing code, while learning how AI works.

3. Social Media Machine

What it is: A teaching app that pulls back the curtain on how social media works. Instead of building models, students explore how AI runs the platforms they use daily. The tool demonstrates how data is collected, how users are profiled, how engagement is tracked and how recommendation systems keep us scrolling in social media.

Best for: Lessons on the social impact of AI, media literacy, and digital citizenship.

Which Tool Works Best in Classrooms?

  • Google Teachable Machine: Great for a quick demo, but limited for serious classroom use.

  • GenAI Teachable Machine: Built for education, privacy-friendly, mobile-ready, and collaborative.

  • Social Media Machine: Perfect for showing students how AI shapes their digital lives beyond apps and coding.

✅ In short:

  • Google & GenAI Teachable Machines → teach how to build and apply AI models.

  • Social Media Machine → teaches how AI already shapes the platforms we use every day.

Together, they give students not just the skills to use AI, but the understanding to think critically about it.

Let’s connect

We’re happy to share more from our global work and support your journey with AI in education.

Contact

Kaisu Pallaskallio
CEO, Code School Finland
kaisu@codeschool.fi
+358 44 355 7355



Jussi Koivisto
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