Making Sense of Tech

By Mrs Hudson-Findley (Director of Digital Learning, Enterprise and Sustainability)

Welcome to Digital Bites - a new regular feature that cuts through the noise to explain the digital tools shaping how we work, learn and live. Each piece offers a short, practical insight into technology that’s changing education and society - from AI to sustainability and beyond.

This week: What is AI, really?

Artificial Intelligence isn’t a single technology - it’s a family of systems that learn patterns from data to predict, generate or respond. The most visible form right now is the Large Language Model (LLM), which powers tools like ChatGPT or Google Gemini. LLMs don’t “think” - they analyse text and predict the most likely next word based on vast training data.

A chatbot (like ChatGPT) uses an LLM to simulate conversation. An agent, however, can act - it can search, write emails, summarise documents or automate workflows. 

At home, you can offer support by encouraging critical use: ask your young people how they know an AI answer is accurate, or which parts they wrote themselves. Together, we can help them become confident, ethical digital learners.

Next week I will offer tips on How to Talk to AI.