Artificial Intelligence at USW: Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence and awareness in machines that are programmed to think, judge, respond, and mimic humans and their actions (Frakenfield, 2022). It is commonly used by people to describe any piece of technology that mimics human learning and problem solving skills.

The term is used to describe everything from finding the best route on Google Maps, self-driving cars, algorithms to display a list in a certain order on a website or in a social media app, and facial recognition software to unlock a smart phone. It is part of our everyday lives, at work, in university and at home. Developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have progressed at an incredible rate, and are predicted to impact many areas of society, including education in the coming years. 

One such development is the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI). AI systems that are generative have the ability to produce text, images, or other forms of media in response to prompts. A prompt (or prompt engineering) is the command or instruction you enter into a generative AI system to create a desired output - for example, a piece of written text or an image relating to a particular topic, idea, person, and so on.

This guide will help students and staff explore a range of generative AI technologies and consider how these technologies might affect their teaching and learning practice.