Project Qualification Artificial Intelligence (AI)
What is true? What is responsible? What does it mean for society? Dive deep into key questions like this and more when it comes to AI.
Explore Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology through our Extended Project Qualification.
Our new AI support pathway enables learners to independently focus their project on critically testing and exploring AI tools and technologies, their potential applications, and any wider ethical and societal considerations.
Created in collaboration with teachers of the EPQ across all four units, EPQ:AI encourages learners to explore, apply and critically evaluate AI tools and the outputs they generate in a context or area of personal interest, which will help students to consider the impact AI and advancing technology will have on their potential future work, education or on everyday life.
- Explore Generative AI (GAI) tools such as ChatGPT, SoundRaw and Podcastle to generate content, and critically evaluate their use.
- Understand AI tools and build useful digital skills to prepare for the future as AI rapidly transforms the world around us.
- Critique the value of AI in creative fields including areas such as playwriting and play performance, song and music composition, and screenplay for film or moving media.
- Dive deep into questions surrounding the use of AI and the value of its generated content, by creating an essay, performance or artefact as part of your investigations, alongside your other studies.
- Develop critical thinking skills to explore responsible use of AI, considering issues such as ethics, copyright, empathy, source bias and wider societal issue.
- Choose any focus you like, or take inspiration from topic ideas such as ‘can an AI tool replace the consultation process of a doctor?’, or ‘could an AI reporter improve societies’ trust in the news?’
To support teachers, we have provided guidance focused on the published JCQ guidance, and provided a contextual explanation for the EPQ. This includes:
- key considerations to make as the centre lead
- key considerations for students to be advised upon
- advice on updating your school policies relating to IT use, coursework, and plagiarism/malpractice
- how students should reference AI use in their assignment
- likely ways in which AI might form part of each unit approach
Whether your students are writing dissertations, carrying out investigations, performing or creating an artefact, we have created a set of guidance documents that we hope make it clear how AI can form an interesting topic for a student's EPQ, with links to known GAIs and an example of an academic paper relating to this field.
To help students engage with AI in the right way, we have provided simple guidance for writing a working title including AI, and provided some initial key terms that through self-directed research, will help them to articulate a specific area of AI which they can carry out more detailed research and investigation. We have also provided simple guidance for a popular free image generator Adobe Firefly, written in October 2023 (which will likely expire in advice quickly given the pace of this technology).
In line with JCQ requirements, students must record their use of AI tools during all coursework based assessment activity. For the purpose of EPQ, we have provided simple guidance for recording GAI tool use, including an example template which students are welcome to use or adapt.
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