Three years ago a fictionalised version of what it's like to be the teenage daughter of the prime minister first aired on the ABC.
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Last year we then watched as that same fictional teenager explored the world of artificial intelligence in the show's second season. Now, the ABC show The PM's Daughter is taking on a different life as it enters classrooms across the country.
Australian Children's Television Foundation, which among other things develops teaching resources using Australian TV shows, has released a module using the second season of the Canberra-set television show for secondary schools.
"This is our way in and our way to reach young people, make it relevant and increase literacy outcomes while they're being entertained," the foundation's learning designer April Phillips said.
"And young people are aware that their perspective is valid and that their point of view needs and deserves to be heard.
![Bailey Hayward, Cassandra Helmot, Natalie English and Jaga Yap in The PM's Daughter, the Canberra-set TV series available as an educational resource. Picture supplied Bailey Hayward, Cassandra Helmot, Natalie English and Jaga Yap in The PM's Daughter, the Canberra-set TV series available as an educational resource. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/hU74HdTxzzWB78D7znDAb9/f53a1c77-9683-4de2-ac01-ef08d76412b5.JPG/r0_213_4000_2462_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"And when we're talking about student voice, it's really about meeting them with content that's relevant, but also that almost becomes a peer-to-peer moment when you're seeing young people on screen, and then you're responding to that. It's way more relatable for them."
The show's second season dives into the highly debated topic of artificial intelligence, as the prime minister's daughter Cat Perez (played by Cassandra Helmot) questions some big ethical questions in light of an internship at a big tech company alongside a digital AI assistant, HANC and a significant hack within the prime minister's house.
Primarily aimed at English classes in years 8 to 10, the educational resources use the 10-episode season, alongside modules and video elements from the show's script producer Jessica Paine, to explore themes such as speculative fiction, democracy, and the critical ways we engage with digital technology as active and informed citizens.
![A still from The PM's Daughter feature Cat Perez (played by Cassandra Helmot). Inset: A screenshot of the learning modules being used in schools. Pictures supplied A still from The PM's Daughter feature Cat Perez (played by Cassandra Helmot). Inset: A screenshot of the learning modules being used in schools. Pictures supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/hU74HdTxzzWB78D7znDAb9/21a29a5a-24a9-4961-afe6-f76b892914b6.png/r0_0_2000_1124_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"There's a point in the series where Cat says it doesn't really seem like HANC does the bad thing. He just kind of does what you tell him to," Ms Phillips says.
"And to me that line says, well, it's not AI that's good or bad. It's really about our ethical decision making and where our values are at as a society."
When season two of The PM's Daughter was in production, Ms Paine said it was never intended to be more than an entertaining piece of television.
![A still from the learning module. Picture supplied. A still from the learning module. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/hU74HdTxzzWB78D7znDAb9/6f5316cb-b92c-47e9-be82-e4d65141d0b3.png/r0_0_2000_1124_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But she said part of making decent television is the research that goes into the storylines, and then dialing up the drama.
"It was back in 2022 when we shot the season," Ms Paine said.
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"But it turns out that what was speculative fiction then, has become less speculative in the last couple of years, and far more grounded in reality.
"Obviously, we have a more heightened version of AI and what it can do and erring towards villainous in some cases.
"But we just really wanted to engage with what we thought would be the next round of issues that kids were grappling with."