Build a working foundation for using AI in day-to-day professional practice. This workshop helps participants understand how AI works, where it adds value, where it can fall short, and how to use it with more confidence and discernment as part of an ideation process. Through examples, exercises, and discussion, participants explore common AI tools, strengthen prompting habits, and develop a clearer understanding of how AI can support better starts without replacing judgment, creativity, or critical thinking.

We begin with a plain-language overview of what AI means in this training, including how modern AI differs from rule-based automation, how AI learns at a high level, and why training data matters. Participants are introduced to common limitations and risks—such as bias, hallucinations, and feedback loops—so they can better understand why AI outputs can be useful, uneven, or confidently wrong.

The workshop also introduces several categories of AI tools, including chat assistants, knowledge-base assistants, visual AI tools, and workflow automation tools, with simple guidance for choosing the right category based on the task, the context, and the level of sensitivity involved. A short applied segment connects this foundation to workplace use through a basic workflow lens: identify a workflow, spot bottlenecks, and consider whether AI might automate, enhance, or stay out of a step.

Participants come away with a clearer understanding of AI, its limitations, and how to make more informed choices about everyday use.