Never used a computer much? That's fine. Four steps and you'll be building programs with AI.
AI isn't just for grown-ups. You'll get comfortable with the keyboard, find out what kind of machine AI really is, and learn to ask your Lyen learning buddy good questions — safely. At the end you'll make your own game just by describing it in words. Follow the 10 lessons below, one a day, with flowcharts and pictures.
Each lesson takes 20 minutes a day. Every lesson has a picture (a flowchart or chart), something to try yourself, and a check question. If anything is confusing, ask your Lyen learning buddy anytime.
Today's goal I can say what input, processing, and output mean.
Typing letters on the keyboard is called input. The computer calculates with what it receives — that's processing. Then it shows the result on the screen — that's output.
AI works the same way. You input a question, the AI calculates, and it outputs an answer. That's why the first step to talking with AI is getting friendly with the keyboard.
Flowchart: input → processing → output
Input
You type 1+1
Processing
The computer calculates
Output
2 appears on the screen
Try it
Tap the button below and learn where your fingers go. Each time you type a letter, say to yourself: "That's input!"
Today's goal I can explain that AI is a machine (a program) that people made.
AI talks so smoothly that it can feel like a person. But AI isn't a living thing — it's a computer program that people built.
AI doesn't get hungry, happy, or sad. It just calculates very fast, based on a huge amount of text. Both people and AI can be wrong, so people check important decisions and take responsibility for them.
Comparison chart: people and AI
People
AI
Feels happy, sad, or hungry
Yes
No
Eats food and sleeps
Yes
No
Runs on electricity
No
Yes
Calculates over huge amounts of text in a flash
No
Yes
Can be wrong
Yes
Yes
Takes responsibility for important decisions
Yes
No
Try it
Tap the button below and read the first AI lesson. Then pick the most surprising row in the chart and explain it to someone in your family.
If an AI writes "I feel great today," does it really feel great?
Show the answer
No. The AI calculated words that fit that kind of sentence. It didn't write it because it felt something.
4Lesson 4
How does AI learn?
Today's goal I can explain that AI learns by finding patterns in lots of examples.
If you show a computer lots and lots of cat photos and dog photos, it calculates with numbers to find a rule (a pattern) that tells them apart. This is called learning.
After learning, it tries to guess whether a brand-new photo shows a cat or a dog. If it gets many wrong, people collect more examples and train it again. The examples it learns from matter a lot.
Flowchart: the order in which AI learns
Collect examples
Lots of cat and dog photos
Find a pattern
Calculated with numbers
Guess something new
A photo it has never seen
Fix mistakes
People add more examples
Repeat until it guesses better
Try it
Tap the button below and look around the AI basics page. Then point at "examples → pattern → guess" in the flowchart and say each step out loud.
An AI was shown only dog photos and not a single cat photo. Will it be good at recognizing cats?
Show the answer
Probably not. There were no cats in the examples it learned from. What an AI is good or bad at depends on the examples it learned from.
5Lesson 5
Guess the next word
Today's goal I can tell that a chatbot builds sentences by scoring the next word.
A chatbot AI doesn't write a long answer all at once. For each "next word" it calculates scores, picks one, adds it, and then scores the word after that.
Usually a high-scoring word is picked, but sometimes a lower-scoring one gets picked too. That's why the same question can get slightly different answers. Tap the bars below to finish the sentence.
Bar chart: scores for the word in the blank (a simplified example)
Your sentenceI ate toastcerealan applea cloud for breakfast.
Tap a bar to choose the word for the blank.
That's the highest-scoring word. AI usually picks words like this.
Its score is a bit lower, but it still gets picked sometimes. That's why answers change a little each time.
That word's score is very low. Words that would make the sentence nonsense get very low scores.
A real AI looks at far more words, and at the whole sentence so far, to calculate its scores. This chart is a simplified example to make it easy to understand.
Try it
Tap the button below and pick the next word several times. Count whether the same sentence comes out every time.
You asked the same question twice and got slightly different answers. Is the AI broken?
Show the answer
Not necessarily. AI picks words by looking at scores, so its answers can differ a little each time. Still, always check the important parts.
6Lesson 6
AI can be wrong — the checking habit
Today's goal I can follow the steps to check an AI answer instead of just believing it.
AI sometimes makes answers that sound right but are wrong. Experts call this a "hallucination." It doesn't mean the machine is seeing things — it means a sentence it calculated doesn't match the facts.
So for important things like homework, health, and safety, always check once more with a book, a teacher, or a parent. Catching a wrong answer is a great skill too.
Flowchart: when you get an answer from AI
The AI gave you an answer
Is it important?
Homework · health · safety · money
Yes
Check with a book, teacher, or parent
Use only what you've checked
No
It's fine to read it for fun
If it seems odd, ask again or check
Try it
Tap the button below, read the page, and name one reason AI can be wrong.
Today's goal I can build a question that says what I want to know, who will read it, and what shape the answer should take.
A fuzzy question gets a fuzzy answer. If you say what you're curious about, who will read the answer, and what shape you want it in, it's easier to get a helpful answer.
Even a good question can get a wrong answer. So after you get an answer, remember the checking steps from Lesson 6.
Picture: three pieces that build a good question
1
What do you want to know?
What T. rex ate
2
Who will read it?
A 9-year-old
3
In what shape?
In three sentences
Not-so-good questionTell me about dinosaurs.
Good questionExplain what T. rex ate in three sentences that a 9-year-old can understand.
Try it
Tap the button below and send your Lyen learning buddy one question that has all three pieces.
For example: "Give me three easy ways to remember the 7 times table, explained so a 9-year-old can understand." A good question says what you want to know, who will read it, and what shape the answer should take.
8Lesson 8
Talking with AI safely
Today's goal I can use traffic-light colors to sort what I should never tell an AI.
What you type to an AI travels over the internet to another computer (a server). So never type information that could identify you.
If something scary or sad happens, tell a trusted adult like a parent or teacher first — not an AI. An AI can't protect you in real life.
Traffic-light chart: what's OK to share and what isn't
Red light — never type it
Passwords
Your home address
Phone numbers
Yellow light — ask a parent first
Photos of your face
Friends' names and stories about them
Where it hurts or things about your body
Green light — ask freely
Things you're curious about, like dinosaurs or space
How to solve a math problem
Making up a fun story together
Try it
Read the traffic-light chart out loud with a parent. Then tap the button below and ask Lyen one green-light question.
Today's goal I can read a flowchart and draw the steps of a simple game.
A program runs in a fixed order of steps. A flowchart is a picture of that order. Drawing a flowchart before you build something makes it clear what you're going to make.
Below is the flowchart for a number-guessing game. Play the game next to it and the box you're in lights up. If you guess wrong, follow the arrow back to the choosing box. Going around like this is called a loop.
Flowchart: the number-guessing game
Start
The computer secretly picks a number from 1 to 10
You are hereYou pick a number
Pick again
Is it right?
No
You are hereSay whether it's higher or lower
Yes
You are hereCorrect! The end
Number-guessing game
Tap a number from 1 to 10.Higher than !Lower than !Correct! You found it. Tries:
Tries: 0
Try it
Draw a "brushing your teeth" flowchart on paper. Start at a round "Start" box, write each thing to do in a square box, and add a diamond that asks "All clean?"
Check question
In the number-guessing game, when you guess wrong, which box does the flowchart go back to?
Show the answer
It goes back to "You pick a number." You go around that path until you get it right. Going around like this is called a loop.
10Lesson 10
Vibe coding: make a game with words
Today's goal I can describe the program I want, run it, and say what to fix.
Vibe coding means describing what you want to make in words, and the AI writes the code. You can simply describe the flowchart from Lesson 9.
It doesn't have to be perfect the first time. Run it, then fix it by pointing out odd things one at a time. The AI wrote the code, but you're the one who decides what to make and checks that it works.
Flowchart: how vibe coding goes around
Describe
Say what you want to make
Make the code
The AI writes the code
Run it
Try tapping it yourself
Say what to fix
One thing at a time
Repeat until you like it
Try saying thisMake a number-guessing game. The computer secretly picks a number from 1 to 10, and if I guess wrong, tell me whether it's higher or lower. When I get it right, show how many tries it took.
Try it
With a parent, tap the button below to open vibe coding, and use the example above to make a number-guessing game.
In the game the AI made, nothing happens when you tap a button. What could you say?
Show the answer
Say clearly what doesn't work and how. For example: "When I tap the 5 button, nothing happens. Fix it so tapping tells me whether the number is higher or lower."
After 4 weeks, I can…
Explain input, processing, and output
Tell a friend that AI is a machine, not a living thing
Check AI answers instead of just believing them
Write good questions that say what, for whom, and in what shape
Know which information never to share with AI
Draw a flowchart and make a game by describing it
For parents and teachers
Sit with your child for the first few sessions. Please read Lesson 8 (safety rules) together in particular.
For activities that need an account (chatting with Lyen, vibe coding), please create and manage the account yourself.
Praise the moments when your child checks an AI answer instead of simply believing it. That habit is the most important skill.
20 minutes a day is enough. When a lesson ends, let your child look away from the screen and take a break.
Tips that make it easier
One step a day is enough. If you don't finish, that's fine — just come back tomorrow.
When something confuses you, ask the Lyen learning buddy on the left right away. You can ask as many times as you like.
Getting it wrong is fine. AI is a machine, so you can ask the same thing again as many times as you need. The more you try, the faster you improve.