Talking Like a Chatbot – ESL Lesson Plan

Is your students’ language being secretly rewritten by an algorithm? This urgent, eye-opening lesson tackles how AI and social media are subtly changing how we think, speak, and perceive reality. Dive into one of the most relevant digital literacy topics today.

In this dynamic 60-90 minute lesson for B2-C1 learners, students critically examine the profound impact of AI on human communication. Inspired by the viral TEDx talk “Why Are People Starting to Sound Like ChatGPT?” by Adam Aleksic and the investigative article “You sound like ChatGPT” from TheVerge.com, the lesson reveals how AI language models and social media algorithms create “feedback loops” that shape our vocabulary, erode trust, and flatten linguistic diversity.

Students will engage with authentic video and text content, tackle ethical questions about authenticity, and apply their learning in a creative final task.

In this lesson, students will:

• Activate prior knowledge through a lively discussion on social media algorithms and technology’s influence.
• Build and Apply Key Vocabulary through matching and gap-fill activities, mastering terms like distortion, regurgitate, and amplify that are essential for discussing AI’s impact.
• Analyze a thought-provoking video to discover how AI creates a “positive feedback loop” that changes human language, using case studies like the word “delve.”
• Debate the real-world consequences of algorithmic bias and the “trust paradox” in AI-assisted communication.
• Read and dissect an adapted article from The Verge, investigating how AI-favored words like “prowess” and “tapestry” become linguistic watermarks.
• Collaborate in discussion groups to personalize the topic, connecting it to their own studies, work, and online lives.
• Apply their insights creatively in the “Rewrite the Robot” challenge, where they rescue a piece of generic AI text by injecting humor, personality, and authentic human voice.

Equip your students to be conscious communicators, not algorithmic echoes.