Learning Objectives
- Choose: Think about a time when using AI felt complicated, important, or took an unexpected turn
- Map: Draw the emotional arc of your experience, showing the highs and lows
- Annotate: Mark key moments with what you felt and why
- Reflect: Identify what you’ll do differently (or the same) next time, and why
Context
When we use AI, it can be easy to ignore the emotional and ethical complexity of our experience. Maybe we’re rushing to get something done, maybe we’d rather not pause and reflect too deeply. But what if we could slow our AI use down and stretch time out like an accordion to see each moment more clearly? This practice helps you map the emotional and ethical contours of an AI experience, making visible moments where you felt confident, uncertain, or compromised. By reflecting on what happened, you build awareness that can help you pause and navigate future moments more intentionally.
We rarely talk about what it actually feels like to use AI — the emotions and tensions that come up as we’re using it and the thoughts that accompany our interactions. This practice creates that opportunity, providing a structure for unpacking experiences that are emotionally or ethically charged. By mapping a real AI experience, students reflect on how their actual AI use in a particular moment aligned with (or challenged) their values and moral compass.
When to Use This Practice
This practice works best when students have a real AI experience to examine, whether it’s their own or one they’ve heard about. It can be valuable after your students have done an assignment where AI use was allowed, or when students have used new AI tools. It pairs well with Making AI Pressures Visible, which surfaces experiences where students felt pressure to hide their AI use. These moments provide rich material for mapping.
Instructions
- Choose a specific AI moment. Have students recall a time when AI use felt complicated. Maybe they hid their use, weren’t sure if it was okay, or experienced both exciting and frustrating moments. Emphasize choosing a real experience.
- Create the map. Students fold a piece of paper accordion-style. They then draw their thoughts and emotions over time as a line graph showing emotional highs and lows.
- Annotate key moments. Students mark pivotal points in their journey with brief notes about what they felt and why. Focus on peaks and valleys, adding stars to decisions.
- Share insights. In pairs or small groups, students share one significant moment from their map. Together, they identify what helped (or would have helped) them to navigate that moment in a way they’d feel good about.
- Create a personal algorithm. Students look at their starred decision points and choose the most important one. They write a simple rule for that moment using the format: “When [that exact situation happens], I will [one specific action].” Students write it on a sticky note for their laptop. Frame it as “your algorithm vs. their algorithm” to emphasize agency over platforms designed to manipulate behavior.
Variations
- “Grids and Gestures” Version: Instead of mapping emotions over time as a line graph, students can use abstract drawing to capture how each moment felt. Divide a blank sheet of paper into panels representing different stages of the experience. In each panel, invite students to fill the space with lines, shapes, and patterns that express what was happening for them internally — smooth flowing lines might show ease, jagged zigzags for anxiety, tight spirals for confusion, scattered dots for uncertainty, bold strokes for confidence — whatever feels right to them. Annotate key moments and share insights as suggested above.
- Values Version: Pair with Values Bridge and invite students to annotate their maps with the values and ethical questions listed in that activity. Consider key moments where values showed up or were challenged, or where an ethical question was or could have been asked.
- Gallery Walk Extension: Post maps on the wall and have students do a silent gallery walk. Students can gather around and ask questions or leave sticky notes that individual map makers respond to by sharing more about what happened.
Tips
The goal of this practice is reflecting on the experience and learning from it, not harsh self-judgment. Aim for honest reflection without shame. If a choice was a clear misstep, name it—but keep the focus on what happened and what comes next. If choices violated expectations, caused harm, or didn’t align with their values, acknowledge that honestly while focusing on understanding what happened and making better choices going forward. For students who don’t use AI, encourage them to map real experiences they’ve heard about. If students struggle to identify a specific moment, prompt them with: “Think about a time when you almost asked AI for help but stopped,” or “Have you caught yourself wondering if you were letting AI do too much?”
Access the original assignment here. This resource was created by the Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It was inspired in part by Map a Day (2025), The Rithm Project. It was made possible through the support of Grant 63220 from the John Templeton Foundation.
