AI for Everyone: Critical AI Literacy

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Non-Credit
Self-paced (approx. 2 hrs)
Online - Asynchronous

AI for Everyone: Critical AI Literacy

This self-paced course is intended for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of language-based AI like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.

Language-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly playing a role in education, the workplace, and our social lives. This free certificate course is designed to give you the knowledge and skills you need to make thoughtful, informed decisions about when and how you use AI.

Through an interactive recorded lecture, a podcast, and comprehension questions, the course covers how large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT work, what LLMs are good at and where they fail, and problems associated with AI dependence, energy use, and data privacy.

Optional content provides an overview of chain-of-thought prompting and AI agents and explores the future of AI in Canada as it relates to jobs, data privacy, and sovereignty.

The course takes about 2 hours to complete. At any point, you may pause and exit the course, and your progress will be saved so you can complete the course later.

This course focuses on language-based artificial intelligence tools that generate text or speech in response to text and speech input. Examples include ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and similar platforms. These tools can support tasks such as summarizing information, answering questions, brainstorming ideas, or drafting text. While powerful, they also come with important considerations related to accuracy, ethics, and appropriate use.

By the end of this course, students will be able to...
  • Describe what large language models (LLMs) are, including, in simple terms, how they are trained and how they generate responses.
  • Recognize common strengths and limitations of language-based AI and identify situations where human intervention or a different tool is needed.
  • Understand differences between human thinking and AI processes, and why human judgment, creativity, and responsibility remain essential when using AI.
  • Demonstrate a critical understanding of key ethical, cognitive, and data privacy considerations related to AI use.
To receive a certificate in Critical AI Literacy you'll need to complete the following steps in the course:
  • Complete a short getting started questionnaire.
  • Watch a lecture by Dr. Daniel Lametti from Acadia’s Psychology Department and answer the embedded questions.
  • Listen to a podcast and answer associated comprehension questions .
  • Complete a short matching quiz to test your learning.
  • Complete a short exit questionnaire.

Dr. Daniel Lametti

Price: $0.00