Your streaming app queues up the next podcast before you’ve finished the last one. Your news feed surfaces stories it thinks you’ll click on. Recommendation engines, filter bubbles, personalisation — these systems run quietly behind almost every screen, and most people interact with them dozens of times a day without knowing the vocabulary to describe how they work.
The same goes for misinformation. Deepfakes, clickbait, propaganda, bias — these words appear constantly in headlines, but the ability to define them precisely, use them in conversation, and think critically about what they mean is still surprisingly rare.
And then there’s the question algorithms can’t answer: what human skills still matter? The Soft Skills in the Age of AI lesson covers the vocabulary of empathy, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and work ethic — the capabilities that keep surfacing in every conversation about what automation won’t replace.
This week’s post includes three lessons. The Algorithms lesson — a major expansion of the earlier social media algorithm lesson — covers how recommendation engines, analytics, and targeting work across daily life, from GPS navigation to healthcare. The Misinformation lesson is entirely new, exploring the language of fake news, conspiracy theories, and fact-checking through dialogue exercises, picture-based speaking activities, and complaint role plays. The Soft Skills lesson has been reorganised with new listening and speaking exercises built around the workplace vocabulary that matters most right now.
Download the PDF below to see the contents of the three lessons. The complete set of PDF, audio, and video files is available at the end of the post.
Talk Zone Exercise - How Misinformation Spreads
Algorithms in Our Lives
