AI LITERACY IN PRACTICE: FROM UNDERSTAND

"I believe in the future of AI changing the world. The question is, who is changing AI? It is really important to bring diverse groups of students and future leaders into the development of AI.”  --Fei-Fei Li, Professor, Denning Co-Director Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI

Increasing numbers of AI experts and researchers emphasize the urgent need for college students to develop AI literacy, preparing them for evolving job markets, fostering ethical awareness, and ensuring equitable participation in an AI-driven society. To help them achieve AI literacy, this introductory-level course teaches students how to ethically and effectively use Generative AI (GAI) by exploring how GAI works, how to use it properly, and how to critically evaluate its output. Students will understand AI model functionality, distinguish GAI from traditional AI, examine issues of originality, authorship, intellectual property, copyright, plagiarism, fair use, accuracy, bias, environmental impacts, and privacy - all while developing meta-awareness about how AI simulates certain aspects of human creativity and cognition The course's placement in Barnard's English Department reflects the recognition that AI's development requires interdisciplinary perspectives beyond STEM, as AI research increasingly intersects with humanities and social sciences to address ethical, social, and cultural implications. Through ethics-focused assignments and writing projects culminating in a final research investigation in students' chosen fields, this course empowers students to resist pure AI reliance and actively control these technologies rather than remaining passive observers of AI's expanding influence in academia and society.