“What surprised me the most? I feel like AI is an extension of my creativity, not a replacement for it,” says Steve, who works on a video game proposal in my MEJO 121: Digital Storytelling class. Noah Wayne 27 years speaks. Students are currently using AI to help develop visuals that illustrate the game’s plot, main characters, and key game elements. This is not a story about artificial intelligence taking over. It’s about students discovering ways to collaborate with AI in new and imaginative ways. Holly Copeland ’27 says, “AI has allowed me to be more creative and take my ideas to the next level.”
These students are witnessing a future of creativity where new collaborations between humans and machines create unprecedented opportunities. I’ve been working with AI professionally since 2013, when it was primarily used as a marketing automation tool in the digital advertising industry. In 2019, I wrote The Invisible Brand, which explored how AI and machine learning are beginning to reshape society. But it was the new wave of generative AI with the advent of tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney that caught the public’s attention and took my classroom to a whole new level.
The introduction of AI into my teaching began in the fall of 2022 when my students began using the beta version of ChatGPT in MEJO 588: Emerging Technologies, and now it is integrated into every aspect of my instruction. It has spread. Our goal is to get our students actively engaged with technology and to use it to solve real-world problems, as we are very experienced teachers. Julia Montgomery ’27 has been experimenting with different prompts to achieve the desired results for her illustrations, and said, “I don’t know what to do. “AI can be subtle, or it can be very blunt. It requires some tweaking.”
In the spring, I started Optimus Awards, offering $100 prizes to students each day for the best AI artwork. To introduce the winners, I organized an exhibit at Innovate Carolina Junction called “Is it Art?” It showcased works generated by AI and challenged the public to rethink their ideas about what art is in the digital age. That question — is it art? — is one that artists have asked for centuries. Consider the early days of photography in the 1800s. At the time, portrait painters rejected the camera as a mere mechanical device. Today, photography is accepted as a legitimate artistic medium, and AI is following a similar path. AI is challenging our definition of creativity, but like photography, it will eventually be embraced as a new tool for self-expression.
As these students continue to interact with AI in the classroom, they begin to realize that AI does not limit them, but instead expands their possibilities and engages them on a personal level. . Ellie Bowman ’27 said, “It remembers our previous conversations and refers back to what I said.” That’s a little scary too. We have begun a dialogue with machines that will outlive us. Addressing these fears of technology learning to predict the answers we seek is also an important part of this work in the classroom.
The future of creativity and problem-solving will inevitably require collaboration between humans and machines. AI is changing the digital storytelling landscape. And these students are leading the way, discovering how powerful this collaboration can be. To prepare this generation for the future, it is essential to expose their bright young minds to AI today so that they can grow with it. And we’re just getting started.
