Course Syllabus

Course Description

This course introduces artificial intelligence as a creative and analytical tool that is reshaping how people learn, work, and make things. Students will use AI to create, revise, and critique artifacts such as explanations, visual materials, data-informed summaries, simple prototypes, and field-specific communication pieces. These activities will emphasize goal-setting, iteration, evaluation, and the human judgment needed for responsible AI-assisted creation. 

To support that work, students will learn how modern AI systems function, including key ideas from machine learning, neural networks, language models, image generation, retrieval-augmented generation, fine-tuning, and AI tool use. The course also examines AI as a historical and cultural phenomenon, including its effects on labor, creativity, authorship, bias, accountability, and responsible use. 

Through hands-on activities, discussion, and project-based work, students will build practical AI literacy while learning to evaluate AI’s benefits, limitations, and evolving role in society. 

There are no formal prerequisites, but students should have basic math skills such as working with percentages and interpreting graphs, equivalent to MATH 1030 or above. 

Instructor: Professor David Johnson (office 3146 MEB)
Instructor contact: david.e.johnson@utah.edu

Mondays and Wednesdays: 11:50AM - 1:10PM

Syllabus

This is a temporary, descriptive page about the course. A full syllabus will be published the week before classes start.