This workshop focused on building foundational AI literacy, regardless of AI experience level or user acceptance. It provided a comprehensive overview of generative AI, including its core concepts, opportunities, limitations, and ethical considerations. Participants learned about the importance of responsible AI implementation, along with strategies for fostering transparent communication with students and colleagues. By discussing these approaches, the session aimed to promote an environment of trust and clarity around AI usage.

Key Takeaways:

• AI as it is used today is referring to generative AI; that is, AI that creates media content, text, images, sound, and videos.
• The current AI models are trained on massive amounts of data, which can lead to biases and coherence issues.
• AI can assist with idea generation, editing text, creating lectures and study guides, and summarizing information.
  • AI can be beneficial in tasks such as medical diagnosis, where it can catch trends or concerning things that humans may miss.
• Models often hallucinate, and respond with nonsensical answers. Models can be trained to “forget” certain information, but it is difficult to remove it entirely and models can be manipulated by bad actors.
• Microsoft and other companies are investing billions of dollars in AI, which may lead to increased prices and potential equity issues.
• Basic AI literacy is important for both faculty/staff and students.
• Education and regulation are necessary to ensure responsible and transparent use of AI, especially in academic settings.
• AI is not a substitute for learning or creativity, but can be used as an augmentative tool in certain situations.
• Be transparent, communicate often, and practice accountability when using AI.

Supplemental Resources:

• Workshop Recording
• Slide Deck 
• AI for Education Prompt Library
• One Useful Thing – Dr. Ethan Mollick
• AI Snake Oil – Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor

Upcoming AI Workshops

AI Detection and Prevention

Wednesday, September 11; 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm – McGraw 19A / Webex

Wednesday, October 16; 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm – McGraw 19A / Webex

Teaching AI Scripting: How to Write Prompts

Wednesday, October 30; 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm – McGraw 19A / Webex