Book for teens · ages 13 to 18

While You Scroll…

Go from spectator to creator in the age of AI.

For teens aged 13 to 18. Stop just scrolling: learn to use artificial intelligence to create your own things, build projects and learn faster. And you are not alone: share what you make and see what others create.

About the book

You spend hours watching what others create. This book offers you something different: using the same tools they use to create yourself. No lectures and no jargon.

In plain words you will understand what AI really is, how to make the most of it to study, build a project or launch an idea, and how not to fall into its traps (hoaxes, deepfakes, dependence).

It is not about spending more time on your phone, but about using it to make things of your own. You decide; the AI only speeds things up.

The promise

By the end you will have your first project made with AI and a way of working you can repeat: an idea, a plan and the steps to turn it into something real.

Who it is for

For teens aged 13 to 18 who are curious and want to create, not just consume. You do not need to know how to code.

Get the book

Available as eBook and paperback. Choose your edition:

• Spanish · Mientras haces scroll: eBook · Paperback
• German · Während du scrollst: eBook · Paperback
• English · While You Scroll: eBook · Paperback
• French · Pendant que tu scrolles: eBook · Paperback
• Portuguese · Enquanto você faz scroll: eBook · Paperback
• Italian · Mentre scorri: eBook · Paperback

The toolbox

A selection of prompts to create, study and build projects, made for you. Change what is in [brackets] for your case. The prompt copies itself; paste it into the tool you prefer.

4. Teens aged 12 to 16

• Micro-business ideas: Act as a realistic, motivating entrepreneurship coach for teens. I'm [age], have [X hours] a week and almost no money. My interests: [list]. Give me 5 realistic ideas from easiest to most ambitious. For #1, a concrete two-week plan.
• Action plan for a project: Help me turn this idea into a real project: [idea]. Give me the goal, weekly steps, tools and today's first task. Ask me what you need before planning.
• Learn what I'm passionate about: I want to learn [language / coding / drawing / video editing] from scratch. Design an 8-week plan with a short daily practice, free resources and a way to measure my progress every Sunday.
• 30-day content plan: Help me create a 30-day content plan about [topic] for [platform]. 30 ideas with catchy titles and the full script for the first three. It should sound like me, not like an ad.
• A professional portfolio: Help me set up a simple, good-looking digital portfolio for a [age]-year-old interested in [field]. Which sections to include, how to present small projects, and an honest bio (no personal data).
• Automate the repetitive: Every week I do this repetitive task: [describe it]. Help me do it in half the time or automate it with AI, explained step by step for a beginner.
• Prep for a tough exam: Be a demanding but motivating teacher for [subject]. Explain [topic], give me a five-question test, mark it in detail and tell me exactly what to revise.
• Improve my own writing: Here's a text of mine: [paste it]. Improve it without changing my voice: clearer, better rhythm, no mistakes. And tell me three things to learn for next time.
• Rehearse something scary: I'm going to [an interview / speak in class / ask for something important]. Coach me: roleplay it with me, throw realistic objections at me, and give me honest feedback at the end.
• Defend against disinformation: Here's something I saw on social media: [text]. Help me work out if it's reliable: what it claims, what evidence it shows, what's missing and how I'd check it myself.
• A community project: I want to do something useful for [my neighbourhood / a cause I care about]. Suggest three small, realistic projects for a teen, and a concrete first step for the easiest one.
• Organise the term's studying: These are my subjects and exam dates: [list]. Put together a realistic weekly study plan, with breaks, that I can actually stick to.

7. To create and enjoy

A heads-up: the day you hear your first song, made by you and about something of yours, you get a lump in your throat. Start here.

• Your first song: [In a music tool like Suno] An emotional song about [my mother, who's turning 70], in [soft pop] style, mentioning [a specific shared memory].
• An image that never existed: Create an image of [whatever you imagine, with as much detail as possible], in [watercolour / photoreal / illustration] style.
• Your first story: I want to write [a short story / my memoirs / a wedding speech]. Ask me questions to pull out my ideas and memories, then help me shape them in my own voice.
• A poem for someone: Help me write a simple, heartfelt poem for [person] about [what they mean to me]. It should sound like me, not overwrought.
• A one-of-a-kind gift: Help me create a personal gift for [person]: pick between a poem, an image or a song about [a shared memory], and make it with me step by step.
• A script for a memory video: I'm going to put together a memory video of [a trip / a year / a person]. Help me with the script, the order of the moments and an emotional text for the end.
• Your business idea, step by step: I have a business or product idea: [describe it]. Help me develop it step by step: who it serves, how to test it cheaply, and what my first move would be.
• Design a digital product to sell: I want to create a [template pack / guide / illustration set] about [topic] to sell. Help me define it, name it, and describe how I'd present it.
• Your logo or personal brand: Help me create the identity of [my project]: name, slogan, values and a simple logo description to generate it. Ask me questions before suggesting anything.
• Redecorate or revamp a room: I want to redo [room] on a small budget. Here's what it looks like: [details]. Give me three style ideas, a colour palette and a list of cheap changes.
• A little family game: Invent a simple board or card game to play with the family with kids aged [ages], about [topic]. Give me clear rules and which household materials we need.
• Write the book inside you: I want to write a book about [topic or story]. Help me define who it's for, the chapter outline, and write the first chapter with me. Slow, chapter by chapter.

9. Advanced prompts (once you're at home with it)

• A custom assistant: I want a permanent assistant for [writing my work emails / planning my weeks]. Ask me about my style, my quirks and my needs, and propose instructions I can save and reuse forever.
• A multi-step workflow: Help me build a repeatable process for [turning my notes into a report / preparing a class]. Break it into numbered steps, telling me what I give you at each one and what you give back.
• A content system: I want a system to publish about [topic] without burning out. Design me a flow: where I get ideas from, how I turn them into posts, and a realistic calendar of [times per week].
• Analyse your own data: Here's a table of [my expenses / my sales / my hours]: [paste or describe]. Find the three most useful things I should see, and a practical recommendation.
• Prep a negotiation thoroughly: I'm going to negotiate [topic] with [who]. Help me prepare: my objectives, my acceptable minimum, their likely objections, and a calm reply to each one.
• Your own "second brain": I want to organise everything I'm learning about [topic]. Suggest a simple way to store it and ask you for summaries and connections when I need them.
• A business plan in one session: I have this idea: [describe it]. Be my consultant: customers, value proposition, how to test it cheaply in 30 days and the three numbers I should watch.
• Automate your repetitive work: At work I repeat [these tasks] every week. Help me identify which I can automate or speed up with AI, ordered from easiest, and where to start.
• Learn to code by building something real: I want to make [a small website / a simple app / a script] that does [this], and I can't code. Walk me through it step by step with [Claude Code / Cursor], explaining just enough at each step that I get it.

6. School and studies

• Explain at their level: Explain [topic] to me as if I were [age or year group], with a real-life example. Then ask me a question to check I got it.
• Summarise something huge: Summarise this [text / video / PDF] in five to seven key points and highlight the one thing I shouldn't forget for an exam.
• Study cards in three levels: Make study cards on [topic] in three levels: easy, medium, hard. Question on the front, answer on the back.
• Generate a practice exam: Make me a practice exam in [subject] on [topics], with 10 varied questions. Don't give me the answers until I send mine for marking.
• A presentation that lands: Help me structure a [10]-minute talk on [topic] for [audience], slide by slide, one idea per slide and a memorable close.
• Nail a written assignment: Help me plan an essay on [topic]: outline, what goes in each part and the questions I should research myself. Don't write it for me — help me write it.
• Learn a language daily: I'm [level] in [language]. Chat with me for 10 minutes a day about [an everyday topic], correct me gently and teach me three new words each time.
• Learn a new tool: Teach me how to [make a pivot table in Excel / use this program], step by step, like a complete beginner, with a simple exercise to practice.
• Improve spelling: I want to improve my spelling. Every day give me three sentences with a typical mistake to spot, correct me, and explain the rule in one line.
• Prepare an oral presentation: Help me prepare a [length] oral presentation on [topic]: script, opening and closing lines, and three tips for not getting nervous.
• Crack a stubborn problem: I don't get this [maths / physics] problem: [paste it]. Don't give me the solution: guide me with questions, step by step, until I solve it myself.
• A realistic study plan: I have an exam in [subject] in [days] and these topics: [list]. Make me a realistic daily plan, with revision and breaks, that I can actually follow.

A · The dictionary without fear

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Software that learns from huge amounts of examples and, from there, writes, draws, answers or decides — imitating skills we used to think only humans had.

Model

The trained "brain" behind an AI. ChatGPT, Claude or Grok are the products; the model is what thinks inside.

Chatbot

An AI you talk to, in writing or out loud, like a messaging conversation.

Prompt

What you ask or write to the machine. The clearer and more concrete, the better the answer (the recipe is in Appendix C).

Token

The little chunk the machine breaks text into to process it — roughly a syllable or a short word. You just need to know it exists.

Hallucination

When the AI invents something and tells you with total confidence. That's why the things that matter always get double-checked.

Agent

An AI that doesn't just reply but does tasks on its own, step by step, towards a goal — even while you're not watching.

AGI

Short for "artificial general intelligence": a machine able to do almost any mental task a human can. It doesn't exist yet; it's the goal the big labs are chasing.

Multimodal

Understands and creates in several formats at once: text, images, voice, audio and video.

GPT / LLM

Technical names for the kind of model behind today's chatbots ("large language model"). The name doesn't matter; you already know what it does.

Training

Teaching a model by letting it read gigantic amounts of text and images until it picks up the patterns.

Bias

The slants and blind spots the machine inherits from its data and from whoever tuned it. That's why it isn't a neutral oracle.

Deepfake

A fake photo, voice or video produced by AI that looks completely real. The reason to teach your kids to question what they see.

Open source

Models anyone can download and use freely, as opposed to those owned privately by a company.

Local AI

An AI that runs entirely on your own computer, so your data never leaves the house (we covered it in Appendix F).

The cloud

Very powerful computers belonging to some company, which you connect to over the internet. Almost every AI you use lives there.

Context window

How much the machine can "hold in its head" at once in a conversation. If it gets very long, it starts forgetting the beginning.

Voice clone

An AI-made imitation of someone's voice. Wonderful for creating, dangerous in the hands of a scammer.