Fisher Introduces Minor in Artificial Intelligence Literacy

A new minor in artificial intelligence (AI) literacy launched last spring helps St. John Fisher University students evaluate AI’s capabilities, limitations, and societal implications as they prepare to take an active role in shaping its implementation across industries.

Housed in the School of Arts and Sciences, the minor is designed to prioritize opportunities for students to explore the profound impacts of artificial intelligence by examining its core concepts and variety of types, as well as strengths, weaknesses, and ethical implications. 

Interim Dean Dr. Melissa Ghera emphasizes that prompt engineering and model execution alone do not constitute comprehensive AI literacy.

“To remain competitive and grasp the trajectory of artificial intelligence, students must comprehend its historical foundations, its conceptual frameworks, and the ethical parameters governing its application,” she said. “Given that students will inevitably integrate these technologies into their work, our pedagogical responsibility is to cultivate strategic, effective, and ethical practice.”

Students enrolled in the minor take three foundational courses that build a framework for analyzing and applying AI, and choose three classes covering AI implementation in society, professional contexts, and the evolving workforce. 

In AI Foundations and Impact, Katie Sabourin, assistant vice president for digital learning, provides students with a broad understanding of artificial intelligence beyond generative AI that has become popular and received press in the last few years, diving into the wider definition of AI that has existed for years and is built into many tools and technologies used on a daily basis.

Throughout the course, students get hands-on experience with AI tools, including the Teachable Machine app to explore how machine learning works, how it is used to make predictions, and where these predictions can be biased or inaccurate based on the training data they are built on. They also use AI as a thought partner in their midterm project where groups of students work together to build a physical board game for other groups in the class to play.

“They must use AI as a contributing member of their teams and document through an AI log where the technology was used and why. They are using AI in this case as a thought partner and team member to make what, in the end, must be a physical analog board game centered on the AI topics discussed in the first half of the course,” said Sabourin. “Students really enjoy the project, learn about how to use AI as part of a team, and enjoy making something physical to play even though we are in a heavily digital class.”

During class time, students receive demonstrations on all the major AI tools available in the market today, and are required to submit a prompt homework each week where students use one of the tools to complete a task of their choice reflecting on their prompt, the output, looking for bias or hallucinations, and deciding if AI was actually helpful or not for the situation they selected. 

“This helps students become more critical users of AI systems and understand their strengths and limitations so they can use these tools more effectively in the future,” added Sabourin. 

This minor complements many majors at Fisher, by teaching students to engineer effective prompts and master AI tools through an interdisciplinary approach. Students will emerge as informed leaders and responsible stewards of AI’s evolving role in society. 

To learn more about the program, visit the AI literacy website.