AI literacy workshops

We're running free high-school workshops that teach senior citizens how to use AI chatbots and detect AI-based scams.

Two older adults using a laptop together

Where we have got to

6
workshops run so far, in person and over video.
140
people have attended.

Checked September 2026.

Seniors use AI the least

77%
of Americans 65 and older do not use AI chatbots at all. For adults under 30 it is 34%.
19%
of adults 65+ have ever used ChatGPT. For ages 18 to 29 it is 61%.
6%
of adults 65+ feel confident using a chatbot. For ages 18 to 29 it is 31%.

Pew Research Center, survey conducted February 17 to 23, 2026.

They are also the main target of AI-enabled scams

The FBI began counting AI-enabled fraud as its own category in 2025, and most of the money lost to it came from older adults.

$7.7B
lost to online fraud by Americans 60 and older in 2025, across 201,000 victims. Adults in their 30s and 40s reported $4.6 billion.
$38,000
average loss per victim aged 60+. Over 12,400 of them lost at least $100,000.
40%
of AI fraud losses reported to the FBI came from victims 60 and older: $352 million out of $893 million.

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Elder Fraud Report and 2025 Internet Crime Report.

A convincing voice clone takes about ten seconds of audio, which a scammer can pull off a Facebook video. Add a few details from the same profile and a phone call from a grandchild in trouble sounds real enough to work. AARP found that 85% of adults over 50 worry about deepfakes and that very few of them know how the technology works.

What a session covers

We offer 45-minute workshops, either in-person or virtually. By the end, all attendants will have a working chatbot on their devices, know how to use that chatbot practically, and how to detect AI scams.

1. What AI is

How a chatbot differs from an ordinary computer program. We explain it through apps people already have, like Siri and Maps.

2. First time using it

Everyone downloads ChatGPT and sends a prompt. We go around the room until it works on every phone.

3. Everyday uses

Getting AI to explain something at whatever level of detail you want, or to sort out a confusing setting on your phone.

4. Scams and safety

How voice cloning and fake emergency calls work, and what you should never type into a chatbot.

The full curriculum

Everything we teach from, written out properly. If you would like to run something similar yourself, you are welcome to use it.

Open the curriculum as a PDF

Request a workshop

If you would like one for your residents or members, in person or over video, get in touch. It is free and takes 45 minutes. We bring a laptop and run the whole thing, so all anyone needs is a phone and WiFi.

Emailsairc.support@gmail.com
Phone+1 (737) 336-4773
Instagram@sairc_edu
FacebookStudent AI Research Collective

Sources