KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Artificial intelligence is everywhere, and a new course at Western Michigan University is giving students a leg up on the emerging technology.
“English 5970- AI Writing: Prompt + Response,” is a course that will provide students with a variety of AI platforms. Students will work on asking the tool to take on a role and send it different messages.
Professor Brian Gogan says the better we are at telling programs like ChatGPT what we want, the better they are at giving us a response.
“Take, for example, an instructional set that is directing somebody how to assemble and use a blender in their kitchen. You could ask AI for instructions to do the same task to assemble or use a blender in your kitchen,” said Gogan. However, he also said that it may not provide safety instructions. “So if we return to that student who wants to be a technical writer and produce, let's say instructions, how to use and operate a blender, they're going to have to know how to use AI as a tool to produce a good set of instructions.”
AI is advancing so quickly, that knowing how to navigate it is a worthy skill to have. Goggan believes that students will be able to market themselves after taking the course.
According to the Director of the Office of Faculty Development, Gwen Tarbox, AI will eventually be included in everyday apps like Microsoft Word and Excel, which is why students need to know how to use it.
“We want to make sure that we're looking at it from a variety of lenses, not just how it might benefit a student to get a job, but also how can we make sure that our students become, how shall I say, really discerning about what AI can and cannot do, so that then they can make good choices with it,” Tarbox told FOX 17.
She went on to say, many of the careers WMU students are considering are “deeply impacted by AI.”
Rather than seeing dream jobs replaced by technology, the course will help students adapt.
You don’t have to be a WMU student to take the course. It’s open to anyone who wants to learn more about the world of AI.
