These days it seems like everyone and their uncle—maybe especially our uncles—are relying on AI tools like ChatGPT to do all manner of tasks.

From crafting a text setting a boundary with that one friend who asks too much, to touching up a vacation pic so your family looks as perfect as you’d like it to be, since its popularization in 2022, AI is everywhere.

But do we really know what these AI tools are and how they work? Thanks to an “Introduction to AI Literacy” course developed by Dr. Daniel Lametti (Psychology)—now available for free through Open Acadia—the public has the chance to understand the newly ubiquitous tool and the implications of using it.

As Zoomer Radio said, there are plenty of free AI courses out there, with offerings from institutions like Harvard and University of Toronto. But those courses, they reported, “are very technical and rather sophisticated for too many of us.” What’s different about Dr. Lametti’s course is that it breaks down the basics of AI in an easily digestible way over two and a half hours.

At the end of the course, participants walk away with a certificate of completion and the ability to make informed decisions about when and how to use AI.

In an interview with CBC about the course, Dr. Lametti explained “We're not suggesting that people use AI or simply giving them information about the pros and cons.”

“If you over-rely on AI, you sort of short-change your learning and thinking process. And there's growing evidence that this feeds you a real deficit in terms of your cognition."

Upon the release of CBC's article, Dr. Lauren Wilson Finniss (Vice Provost, Curriculum and Planning) told the news outlet that 20 people outside of Acadia had enrolled in the course.  

Now, a mere 2 weeks and change later, that figure has risen to over 5,000 enrollments and over 1,000 course completions across all Canadian provinces and territories and 56 countries.

The launch of the course also created buzz in academic circles, landing in second place for “most clicked links of the week” in Academica Group’s daily “top 10 in higher ed” newsletter.

Both Dr. Lametti and Dr. Wilson Finniss are hoping that the number continues to climb so that more people will be informed about the realities of AI tools.

“We plan to update the course regularly to keep pace with the technology as it changes,” says Dr. Lametti.

"As AI increasingly becomes a part of our lives, it’s important that Nova Scotians, and all Canadians, have access to this information so they can interact with AI in an informed, productive, and safe way.”

Intrigued? You can sign up and take the self-paced module for free today through Open Acadia.