Week 1: What is AI?

Tuesday, June 2 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. PST

Zoom: https://uci.zoom.us/j/99438557326

Readings

• Galloway, S. (2023, October 10). What is AI? [Video]. YouTube. [5 min]

• Lee, T., & Trott, S. (2023). Large language models, explained with a minimum of math and jargon. 

• Mollick, E. (2026, February 17). A guide to which AI to use in the agentic era. One Useful Thing.

• Tate, T.P., Ritchie, D.R., & Warschauer, M. (2026). Generative AI as a mediational agent: Rethinking learning in sociocultural theory. https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/wcpj5_v1

Slides: Slides 1-17

Due: 4:00pm on Tuesday, June 9

Prompt: Find a new AI tool and try it. Create a slide and tell us about it, including a link to the tool. (You don’t have to use AI to create the slide.) 

If you are new to AI, your job is to try a free chatbot -- sign up for it and give it a small, nonessential task--like help you plan dinner. On a slide, show a screenshot of (part of) your interaction, put the name of the tool, and a couple of things you noticed.

Where to Submit: Put it in our shared slide deck.  We will talk in class about how you might go about evaluating tools.

No peer review due this week.

Due: Sunday, June 7

Each week, submit a brief reflective journal entry (approximately 100–300 words) about your AI use during that week’s course activities. At the beginning of the week, you might note how you plan to use AI this week. At the end of the week, try to respond to a few of the relevant questions.

See this document for instructions on the Reflective Journal.