What is mapping your own ai exposure — explained for kids?

An urban Indian household meets 50–100 algorithmic decisions a day, mostly invisibly. Map your own. For Class 7.

What's the most common mistake children make about this concept?

AI only affects you when you are actively using an AI-powered app.

How much AI affects you every day — mapping your exposure

Q: How does Dhee Learning teach this in a Class 7 session?

Dhee opens with a question — for example: "Without using your phone or thinking about apps, how many AI decisions do you think shaped your life in the last 24 hours — things you didn't consciously choose but that chose what you saw, heard, or were offered?" — listens to your child's answer, then probes the reasoning behind it. The session ends when the child can apply the idea to a brand-new situation, not just recall it.

What this concept actually says

Every person is embedded in multiple AI systems simultaneously, most of which they never consciously interact with
An AI exposure map makes visible the AI decisions that shape a person's information, opportunities, and daily life
Identifying which AI systems affect you is the first step toward exercising informed agency over them

An analogy your child will recognise

Water supply in a city

You drink from the municipal water supply without thinking about who runs it, what's in it, or how it reaches you. You didn't choose the water treatment system; you're just in it. If something goes wrong — contamination, shortage — you're affected whether you paid attention or not. AI exposure is the same: you're inside systems you didn't choose, and their quality directly affects your life.

Mela crowd flow

In a busy mela, the paths that are lit and signposted attract the most people. Vendors near those paths sell more. Your path through the mela was shaped by who decided which lanes to illuminate — probably the organiser, probably in exchange for payment. You thought you were choosing where to walk; the system had already narrowed your options. An AI exposure map is about seeing those illuminated paths and asking who lit them.

Common misconceptions to watch for

AI only affects you when you are actively using an AI-powered app.
You have no power over AI systems you didn't choose to participate in — in reality, collective action, regulation, and transparency requests are all levers of power.

Key facts in one breath

The average person in an urban Indian household is affected by an estimated 50–100 algorithmic decisions per day across apps, platforms, and public systems.
Passive AI exposure (systems that affect you without your interaction) is harder to see and harder to contest than active AI exposure (systems you chose to use).
Data rights frameworks like India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 give citizens some rights over how their data is used — but only if they know what systems are using it.
AI literacy begins with making the invisible visible — you can't evaluate or challenge systems you don't know exist.

How Dhee Learning teaches this — the 3-stage question loop

Every Dhee Learning session for this concept follows three stages. We share the questions Dhee actually asks, so you can hear what a session sounds like.

Stage 1 — Surface

Without using your phone or thinking about apps, how many AI decisions do you think shaped your life in the last 24 hours — things you didn't consciously choose but that chose what you saw, heard, or were offered?

Rote answer

"Maybe five or six, like my social media and YouTube."

Understood

"Probably dozens — the search results I saw when I looked something up, whether certain products were available in my neighbourhood's app, what price I was shown for the same bus ticket (dynamic pricing), whether an email from my school arrived in my inbox or spam, maybe even whether my school's exam software flagged anything I typed. Most of them I never noticed."

Stage 2 — Reasoning

Think about two AI systems in your exposure map — one you chose to use and one that affects you without your choice. What is different about your relationship with each one, and what, if anything, can you do about the one you didn't choose?

Follow-up Dhee may use: Is there any AI system in your exposure map that you think you should have the right to opt out of but currently can't? What would you need to make that case to someone in power?

Stage 3 — Application

Create your personal AI Exposure Map: list at least 8 AI systems that affect your life, categorise each as 'I chose this' or 'it was chosen for me', identify what data each one uses about you, and mark which two you feel most uncertain or uncomfortable about.

Misconception Dhee watches for: Child only lists AI systems they actively use (apps) and misses passive AI exposure (pricing algorithms, infrastructure systems, institutional AI).