BIC students immersed themselves in the good, the bad, and the potential of AI in the one-credit course “Generative AI: Exponential Tool or Existential Threat?” taught by Professor Scott Lachut. In this special topic course, students learned in four quick sessions how to leverage AI tools to create a new product, brand, and marketing campaign from scratch.

In the span of a year, Generative AI has gone from an emergent technology with far-off consequences to becoming the center of cultural conversation with quickly realized implications for business, politics, media, the economy, and beyond. Within the brand and advertising space, Generative AI is already changing the way marketers think about longstanding processes across strategy, creative, media, and communications. As agencies ramp up their knowledge and capabilities overnight to integrate the technology into their core offerings, the general sentiment is that while AI might not take your job or client accounts, those who are well-versed in its myriad uses likely will. 

In the final Saturday session, students presented their amazing “speed” presentations. Students' projects presented a product, brand, and marketing campaign created fully by the power of AI. Students used a wide variety of AI programs, from text-based programs ChatGPT and Gemini to image-creation tools such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, to song generation AI with Sonos. This immersive workshop gave students the space to tinker with the AI and push the limits of what can be done in very little time.

Thank you, Scott, for this eye-opening one-credit course! BICsters, keep playing and being curious about Gen AI…