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AI 101: Getting Started with Everyday AI Tools

Finger Lakes Community College

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What We’ll Cover

  • What everyday AI tools can do
  • Practical examples for work, school, and home
  • A simple prompt formula for better results
  • How to use AI thoughtfully and responsibly
  • One action you can try this week

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Examples of What Generative AI Tools Can Do

  • Edit text for grammar, spelling, content, clarity, or tone
  • Transcription
  • Generate summaries
  • Turn rough notes into checklists, agendas, or plans
  • Explain ideas in simpler language
  • Research
  • Organize information
  • Provide options
  • Draft emails, messages, and first versions of documents

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Issues Surrounding Generative AI

  • It’s not always accurate
  • It’s not a substitute for your judgment
  • Bias
  • It’s not a place to input private, sensitive, or confidential information, or someone else’s intellectual property
  • Generative AI outputs typically do not qualify for copyright
  • Ethical concerns surrounding human labor and the environment

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Everyday Uses at Work

  • Email drafts and replies
  • Create slides for a presentation
  • Meeting note summaries
  • Social media or marketing ideas
  • Checklists, plans, and first drafts
  • Rewriting for clarity or tone
  • Chatbots
  • Research

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Everyday Uses at School or for Learning

  • Explain difficult ideas in simpler language
  • Create study questions or flashcards
  • Turn notes into summaries
  • Outline a paper or presentation
  • Practice interview or discussion questions

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Everyday Uses at Home

  • Meal planning and grocery lists
  • Travel itineraries and to-do lists
  • Letters, invitations, and schedules
  • Product comparisons
  • Breaking down a project into steps

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The Prompt Formula

  • Task: What do you want it to do?
  • Context: What background does it need?
  • Constraints: Tone, length, audience, style?
  • Format: Email, bullets, checklist, table, summary?

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From Weak Prompt to Better Prompt

  • Weak: “Write an email.”
  • Better: “Write a short, polite email to a customer explaining that their order will arrive two days late.”
  • Even better: “Keep it warm and professional, under 120 words, and give me 2 versions.”

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Helpful Follow-Up Prompts

  • Make this shorter.
  • Rewrite this to sound more professional.
  • Explain this for a beginner.
  • Give me 3 options.
  • Ask me 5 clarifying questions first.

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Try it for yourself!

  • Develop your own prompt on something you’re interested in or use a suggested topic below:
    • Work: 10 social media ideas for a small local business
    • Home: 5-day meal plan with grocery list
    • Learning: explain cloud storage for a beginner
  • *Notice how better context = better results

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Use AI Wisely: The 3 Checks of AI Outputs

  • Is it accurate?
  • Is it appropriate to share?
  • Does it fit my purpose and audience?

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Your One Action This Week

  • Choose one task you do often
    • Start with a low-risk task: researching, learning, organizing, automating, etc.
  • Evaluate if or how AI might help
  • Write your first prompt

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Key Takeaways

  • AI can be useful for everyday tasks
  • Better prompts lead to better results
  • Human judgement matters
  • Start small and experiment

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Q&A

  • What questions do you have?
  • What task are you most interested in trying with AI?
  • What concerns do you have?