Get AI literate with a free online course from Acadia
These days it seems like everyone and their uncle鈥攎aybe especially our uncles鈥攁re relying on AI tools like ChatGPT to do all manner of tasks.
From crafting a text setting a boundary with that one friend who asks too much, to touching up a vacation pic so your family looks as perfect as you鈥檇 like it to be, since its popularization in 2022, AI is everywhere.
But do we really know what these AI tools are and how they work? Thanks to an course developed by Dr. Daniel Lametti (Psychology)鈥攏ow available for free through Open Acadia鈥攖he public has the chance to understand the newly ubiquitous tool and the implications of using it.
As Zoomer Radio said, there are plenty of free AI courses out there, with offerings from institutions like Harvard and University of Toronto. But those courses, they reported, 鈥渁re very technical and rather sophisticated for too many of us.鈥� What鈥檚 different about Dr. Lametti鈥檚 course is that it breaks down the basics of AI in an easily digestible way over two and a half hours.
At the end of the course, participants walk away with a certificate of completion and the ability to make informed decisions about when and how to use AI.
about the course, Dr. Lametti explained 鈥淲e're not suggesting that people use AI or simply giving them information about the pros and cons.鈥�
鈥淚f you over-rely on AI, you sort of short-change your learning and thinking process. And there's growing evidence that this feeds you a real deficit in terms of your cognition."
Upon the release of CBC's article, Dr. Lauren Wilson Finniss (Vice Provost, Curriculum and Planning) told the news outlet that 20 people outside of Acadia had enrolled in the course.
Now, a mere 2 weeks and change later, that figure has risen to over 5,000 enrollments and over 1,000 course completions across all Canadian provinces and territories and 56 countries.
The launch of the course also created buzz in academic circles, landing in second place for 鈥渕ost clicked links of the week鈥� in daily 鈥渢op 10 in higher ed鈥� newsletter.
Both Dr. Lametti and Dr. Wilson Finniss are hoping that the number continues to climb so that more people will be informed about the realities of AI tools.
鈥淲e plan to update the course regularly to keep pace with the technology as it changes,鈥� says Dr. Lametti.
"As AI increasingly becomes a part of our lives, it鈥檚 important that Nova Scotians, and all Canadians, have access to this information so they can interact with AI in an informed, productive, and safe way.鈥�
Intrigued? You can sign up and take the self-paced module for free today through .