EVS 103—Using Generative AI for Research and Consulting: Environmental Cases

This class is designed for total beginners to intermediate users of generative AI. We’ll start with the basics of where this technology came from, how it is evolving, and knowing when to use this tool and when not to use it. Then we will explore the different uses cases of generative AI - including summarizing, writing, designing graphs, creative applications, quantitative applications and writing code. We will do this with an eye to projects you might do if you were working in research or consulting, through guided and self-selected examples that relate to environmental challenges in energy, resilience, conservation, and more. We will wrap up the class by zooming out to take a big picture look at the environmental, social, and ethical implications of different futures for this technology. Students can expect to leave the course equipped to responsibly use generative AI in work that relates to environmental studies and sciences or in other fields.