GenAI Essentials

Catalog description

This workshop-style course introduces undergraduates from all majors to the foundations of generative AI and its impact on how people work, learn, communicate, and make decisions in organizations and society. Students learn core concepts and interaction skills, including how to design effective prompts and build end-to-end workflows where generative AI supports tasks such as researching, drafting, analyzing, designing, and prototyping. Through hands-on labs and collaborative projects, they explore how generative AI is already used in their own fields and how those uses are changing professional roles, team practices, and organizational structures. The course emphasizes ethical, human-centered practice, teaches students to critique AI outputs, understand emerging norms and policies, and ensure that generative AI enhances, rather than replaces, critical thinking and human judgment. The use of generative AI in this course is designed to be in compliance with MSOE policies and FERPA regulations. Applied AI Integration: This course meets or exceeds MSOE’s Applied AI Integration guidelines for substantial coverage of Practical Application, Critical Evaluation, and Social Responsibility and for sufficient coverage of Foundational Knowledge.