Join this interactive workshop to explore how to engage with artificial intelligence (AI) tools responsibly and ethically in academic and everyday life. Learn how to evaluate AI-generated content and make informed choices as ethical users in an AI-saturated world.

AI tools are shaping how we search for information, write, study, and conduct research. Knowing how to use them is only one part of being AI literate. This workshop focuses on building practical, critical AI literacy rather than technical expertise. Through real-world examples and guided reflection, we’ll examine bias, misinformation and disinformation, privacy, data use, environmental impact, and source verification, as well as the role AI can play in research and other academic work.

This session focuses on everyday decision-making: when AI can be helpful, when it introduces risk, and how you can ask better questions of AI systems.

You will leave with a clear framework for evaluating AI-generated content and for making informed, intentional, and ethical choices about AI use. 

Learning objectives 

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:  

• Describe what AI is—and what it is not—using accessible, non-technical language
• Identify where AI tools may be appropriately used across academic work and the research lifecycle, as well as where caution is needed
• Critically evaluate AI-generated content for accuracy, bias, and potential misinformation or disinformation
• Explain key ethical considerations, including privacy, data use, bias, and environmental impact
• Reflect on your own everyday interactions with AI and make more informed, intentional choices about when and how to use it 

Instructor

Samantha Harmon 

More Resources

• AI Information and Resources from JMU Libraries
• AI Workshops from JMU Libraries in Spring 2026
• AI at JMU