Module 1: AI Primer
Weeks 1 to 3
Objectives
Module 1 objectives. By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- 1.1 Explain why employers expect AI skills, and the real costs of AI. (Course Competency 1)
- 1.2 Explain in plain terms how a large language model produces an answer, and why it can be wrong. (Course Competency 2)
- 1.3 Write, test and revise a prompt, and verify the result against a source. (Course Competency 2)
- 1.4 State a personal position on using AI in creative work, backed by two sources. (Course Competency 1)
Overview
You are here because you want a career doing this work. The people who will hire you have already decided AI skills matter: in Microsoft and LinkedIn’s 2024 survey, 66% of business leaders said they would not hire someone without AI skills, and 71% said they would rather hire a less experienced candidate who has them. Three out of four knowledge workers already use AI on the job. Our industry advisors asked us to teach it.
Many of you have serious doubts about AI, and some of those doubts are right. AI is trained on artists’ work, often without permission. It makes confident mistakes. It reflects the biases in its training data. Data centers used about 1.5% of the world’s electricity in 2024, and the International Energy Agency expects that to more than double by 2030. This course does not hide those problems.
Refusing AI does not slow it down; it only removes your voice from how it gets used. The designers who decide how AI is used in their studios are the ones who understand it well enough to be trusted. Employers also say creativity, communication and critical thinking matter more than ever, because AI cannot do those for you. This course keeps the creative work in your hands, teaches you to use AI for what it does well, and to catch it when it is wrong. You can leave as an informed critic; you cannot be one without knowing how it works.
Is this cheating? No. AI use here is assigned, disclosed in an AI-use log, and you are graded on your own thinking. How your work is protected: you use Gemini with your Maricopa account only. What you enter is not reviewed by people, not used to train AI models and not used for ads (Gemini for Education; Workspace with Gemini FAQ for Education). Your instructor never puts your work into a public AI tool.
About 5.5 hours in all.
Watch
- How AI works: it predicts the next word, it does not know facts, it makes things up, and the account you use matters (instructor video, posted in Canvas)
- How to use it well: the prompt formula (role, task, context, format), then verify, then revise (instructor video, posted in Canvas)
- The course rules: Gemini writes and gives feedback, it never designs; the AI-use log; check and label anything you keep (instructor video, posted in Canvas)
Read
- Google for Education, Gemini for Education (see “Your data is not human-reviewed or used to train AI models”)
- Google Workspace with Gemini FAQ for Education
- Microsoft and LinkedIn, 2024 Work Trend Index
- International Energy Agency, Energy and AI, executive summary
- One article on AI in your own field (animation, illustration, graphic design, photography, video or games), from the past year
Practice
- Write a prompt for something in your field, then revise it twice using role, task, context and format.
- Fact-check three claims in Gemini’s answer against sources you open yourself.
Assessment
| Item | Group, points and time | Due |
|---|---|---|
| AI Primer | Process Work, 10 pts · about 3 hrs | Week 3, Thu Feb 4, noon, Discord the day before |
Critique (Discord)
Post two or three sentences in #avc248-design-self-promotion on where you stand on AI in your field and why, by noon the day before the AI Primer is due. Reply respectfully to three classmates who see it differently. This post counts as participation in the AI Primer grade. Discord: course channel invite.
Due
All times are noon, Arizona time. Each item’s page gives its Discord, due and hard-close times. Work submitted after the due time and before the hard close (noon the next day) loses 10%; nothing is accepted after the hard close.