A series of four webinars in 2024
- Jan. 30
- Feb. 6
- Feb. 13
- Feb. 20
2:30 pm Eastern | 1:30 pm Central | 12:30 pm Mountain | 11:30 am Pacific
(You’ll get the recordings if you are unable to attend live).
Sign up now — ALA Store
Price for the whole series:
- ALA member Price: $215.10
- Non-member Price: $239.00
Price for an individual webinar: $79.00
Certificate available upon completion.
Why attend?
Generative AI is more than just ChatGPT. As librarians, we need basic literacy about this category of technology and how to use these tools effectively and ethically in library educational programs.
Outcomes
- You’ll gain a basic understanding of the underlying technologies of generative AI.
- You’ll learn how generative AI is different from other types of AI.
- You’ll have knowledge of how to use generative AI tools effectively.
- You’ll become familiar with some of the best educational tools based on these technologies
- You’ll come away with inspiration and creative ideas for using generative AI in library educational programs.
Jan. 30: Introduction to AI Literacy with ChatGPT
In this session, you’ll learn about the technology underlying ChatGPT. We’ll cover what a language model (like ChatGPT) is and how it’s different from a database. Learn how to work with it effectively, known as prompting. We’ll also cover some issues around copyright, bias, and why it sometimes gets facts wrong. And we’ll inspire you to offer AI literacy training for your library users.
We’ll cover:
- the underlying technology of language models like ChatGPT
- getting started with using language models effectively (prompting)
- ethical issues, such as bias, copyright, and “hallucination”
- the importance of AI literacy for everyone
Feb. 6: AI tools for education
There are many generative AI tools besides the free ChatGPT. Learn about some of the best ones for tasks like summarizing text, explaining concepts in simple language, coming up with specific topic ideas for research questions, generating keywords for searching library databases, and more. We’ll also cover ideas for how to evaluate new AI tools for educational use.
We’ll cover:
- Ideas for using ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Claude, and Perplexity AI for library assignments
- Using ChatGPT Plus to work with data
- Using Claude to work with large documents
- Third-party apps: a tour of apps like Elicit, Consensus, or Scite AI Assistant
- Creating an AI chatbot from your own data
- Ideas for how to evaluate educational AI apps
Feb. 13: Generative AI tools for creating multimedia
In this tour of multimedia generative AI tools, you’ll be introduced to the underlying technology – how can images be created from just a text input? You’ll see demonstrations of tools for creating images, video, speech, and music. We’ll discuss the ethical issues around training data, and also the problem of “deep fakes.” Finally we’ll offer ideas for how to use these tools for educational purposes.
We’ll cover:
- How images can be created from only a text input
- A tour of generative AI tools for images, video, speech, and music
- Ethical issues: copyright, deep fakes
- Ideas for using these tools for educational purposes
Feb. 20: Staying current and promoting AI literacy
Developments in generative AI are happening very quickly! It can be difficult to sort out truth from hype in media coverage. In this session we’ll offer some of the best sources for staying current. We’ll also look at what’s on the horizon for new developments with these tools. And we’ll share ideas for teaching others to sort out truth from hype.
We’ll cover:
- Sources for keeping up
- Hype vs truth in media coverage
- Help with understanding the research
- What’s expected in the near future
- Promoting AI literacy
Note:
Demonstrations will include the use of both free and paid versions of these tools.
You can do everything we talk about with free tools, but it’s recommended that you experiment with at least one of the paid tools in order to expand your knowledge of the possibilities.
So if you like, you could pay $20 for one month of ChatGPT Plus and only continue it if you find it useful. Another option would be to use what you learn in these webinars to decide whether to pay for any of these tools.
Sign up now — ALA Store
Stay current
To stay current with the latest news about generative AI, follow me on any of these platforms. I post daily.