Can We Build Ai Without Losing Control Over It Ted Tags

Students record background details, new vocabulary, and key points while watching Sam Harris's TED Talk on AI control, then answer discussion questions and choose from three writing responses.

An educational teaching resource from Learning with Alan entitled ESL TED Talk Activity - Can we build AI without Losing control over it downloadable at Teach Simple.

Year groups: Not Year Specific, Secondary and Sixth Form, Lower Secondary, Years 8–13
Pages: 3
File type: PDF
Preparation: Print ready

Updated Sep 24, 2025

Subject: Formal Writing, Creative Writing, ESL, Vocabulary, Writing, Language Development, English
Topic: ESL, English Second Language
Resource types: Writing Prompts, Worksheets, Worksheets & Printables
Preparation: Print ready

From the author

About this resource

ESL TED Talk Activity Worksheets - Can we build AI without Losing control over it - Sam Harris

Make English language learning more meaningful and inspiring with this engaging ESL TED Talk activity worksheet based on Sam Harris’s powerful talk, “Can we build AI without Losing control over it" (speech that warns that Artificial Intelligence can become superintelligent and how even tiny misalignments between machine goals and human values could lead to catastrophic outcomes—and urges we act now to ensure control).

Ideal for middle school and high school English language learners (Grades 7–12), this resource encourages students to practice listening, speaking, vocabulary, and writing skills in a real-world context. Whether you're teaching in an ESL classroom, tutoring one-on-one, or running a language centre, this ready-to-use worksheet is an excellent addition to your ESL lesson plans.

🧩 What’s Included in This ESL Resource?

This 3-page printable ESL worksheet set includes a variety of dynamic and student-centered tasks:

TED Talk Overview Section
A brief introduction space for students to note important background information (title, speaker, date, and main theme of the talk).
1 QR Code linked to the TED Talk's Youtube Video
Pre-Listening Discussion (Warm-Up)
Vocabulary Builder
Space to identify and define new vocabulary words from the TED Talk, helping learners improve word recognition and usage.
Listening Comprehension Questions
Targeted questions to check understanding of key ideas, supporting details, and examples from the talk.
Speaking Activity
Thought-provoking discussion questions designed to get students talking about the TED Talk's theme
3 Writing Activities
Includes a summary writing task, a personal opinion paragraph, and a creative response assignment where students imagine giving a follow-up TED Talk.

🎯 Who Is This ESL Worksheet For?

English language learners at the intermediate to advanced levels
Middle school and high school ESL/ EFL students (Grades 7–12)
Newcomers and English learners from diverse cultural backgrounds
ESL teachers, tutors, and English language centres around the world

This resource is especially useful for educators seeking authentic, real-world content that makes English learning both effective and inspiring

This ESL Teaching Resource (ESL TED Talk Activity - Listening + Writing + Speaking) can be great for Back to School Activities

"Learning with Alan" is dedicated to provide high-quality teaching resources and educational materials for ESL EFL TESOL teachers. It aims to support teachers, educators, and tutors in both online and offline environments, helping them achieve their teaching goals while creating a fun, stimulating atmosphere for learning English. Always remember: learning is fun, and so is English!

If you want to browse more PDF ESL, EFL, TESOL Teaching Resources and Educational Material click here Learning with Alan!

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Record background information about a spoken talk (speaker, date, location, topic) and activate prior knowledge before listening.
Identify and define new vocabulary words encountered while listening to a talk.
Determine whether a talk's main purpose is informative, persuasive, or entertaining, and record supporting key points while listening.
Produce three different types of writing — a reflective opinion paragraph, a summary, and a creative response — based on the same source material.

Teaching tips

Preview the vocabulary section before playing the talk, since students record new words and definitions as they listen rather than from a provided word bank.
Use the three pre-listening warm-up questions as a full-class discussion to activate prior knowledge before playing the video.
Assign the three writing tasks (reflective paragraph, summary, creative response) as differentiated options rather than requiring all three, since each targets a different writing purpose.

Skills covered

Listening for main idea and detail — students identify whether the talk is informative, persuasive, or entertaining and record up to 10 key points while listening.
Vocabulary acquisition — students identify and define 10 new words encountered in the talk.
Discussion and opinion-sharing — students respond to four speaking questions about agreement, personal relevance, and follow-up questions for the speaker.
Summary and reflective writing — students write a reflective opinion paragraph and a separate summary of the talk's main points and examples.
Creative response writing — students write a short follow-up speech responding to the speaker's ideas.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Does the worksheet ask fixed comprehension questions about the talk, or have students take open notes?

It's open note-taking rather than fixed comprehension questions: students check whether the talk is informative, persuasive, or entertaining, then write up to 10 key points, facts, or examples in their own words.